Desert Rose
by AsagariMelody
Summary: This is a sequel to Blossoming. It revolves around Embry and his imprint Nadira, who returns to LaPush after being in the Syrian deserts, for eight whole months. So much has changed over time, so many things she's missed, but leaving had been necessary.
1. Prologue: Coming home

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing.**

**AN:** Yay! Here we are, the official kick off! A lot sooner than I expected, so enjoy, cause I most certainly did ;) I give you Desert Rose!!!

For those of you who had difficulties with the intimacy and occasional strong language, I'm telling you now they will be present in this one as well! Consider this my one and only warning, cause I'm not repeating it every chapter that may hold some ;)

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Prologue: Coming home

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

The wind blew up the fabric draped around me, I squinted into the distance, trying to make out how far it was back to the settlement. Living in the desert was nothing like I had expected, the sand course, slit through everything, not a piece of cloth survived it's relentless attacks. The drought was another thing all together, my skin felt as if it would rip open whenever I moved, the bursts in my lips unable to heal before they were exposed to the harsh environment once again.

Temperature was the hardest thing to get used to, blistering heat during the day, the exact opposite of the bone chilling cold that arrived when the sun sunk below the horizon. More often than not, Fathiya and I shared a bed at night, attempting to stay warm within our little house built out of walls thin as paper. Both of us trying to deal with the constant longing to the men we had left back at home to come here, but it wouldn't be long now.

Zaïra, one of the elder women amongst our group, who was basically in charge, told us she thought we were ready. We had been working very hard each and every single day, trying to reach that exact point as soon as possible. It was impossible to imagine how much I'd missed him, being away from him felt like I was slowly dying inside. After eight excruciatingly long months, it was finally happening, I would see Embry again, the idea alone made my insides tingle.

"We're almost there!" Fathiya's muffled voice came from behind me, I nodded in agreement.

A few days ago we'd been given the assignment to travel to the nearest big city for supplies we couldn't get in the local town. The four of us had made it there in a little over a day, camels weren't that fast, there we had gone from here to there to find what we needed. Now, three days later, we were returning, almost having finished our very last assignment. The day after tomorrow we'd be on a plane heading back to LaPush, the place we truly considered home.

Though we had suffered a lot, I didn't regret coming here, we truly had learned a lot. At first most of our time had gone into learning Arabic, which went pretty fast because we were constantly surrounded by women who spoke no other language and our genetically enhanced ability to learn. It didn't take us long to be told about our ancestors, which served to understand ourselves better, which was needed in order to start our actual training.

For instance we learned, that the true art within our ability to holding and throwing fire, lay with in controlling it. The difficult thing wasn't to put force behind it, but to contain it, until you were able to hold a single flame to light a candle. The only reason it had been blue before, was because we had been blowing it out of proportion, over heating it and turning it blue, so we were only to create short bursts of it.

It was similar with the protective bubble we could conjure up around us, whenever danger was close, which wasn't supposed to be a bubble at all. Instead it should fit around us like a glove, learning about control and self containment was the key to successfully living with our gifts, while at the same time never posing a threat to others.

All that we needed to learn about healing lay more in the knowledge department, rather than the practical, which was a welcome relief in between physical training. For instance, whenever we healed somebody part of our essence was transferred into the one we were treating, and part of their into us. So it was absolutely imperative to pay attention to whom you would be healing.

That's where the seer within us played a big role, apparently it was our most important gift of all, since the one we originated from was a very powerful seer. It took by far the most training to master that part of us, and Zaïra told us to keep practicing when we were living back home again. Soon after we started working our minds, I was able to hear Nessie within our connections, without any problems at all.

We had missed so much while being here, the birth of Nessie and Jake's beautiful daughter Aurora, as well as the arrival of the other two babies that had joined the pack family in October of 2014. Our own birthday's had been celebrated here as well, both of us had turned eighteen. As had pack member that had imprinted on Fathiya, Taylan and his twin brother Logan, her adoptive sister had turned 19 not long after we'd left.

But the one thing we would be there for, was Leah and Tom's twins turning one, since we would arrive home the 15th of march, three days before their first birthday. I'd seen everyone I'd left behind, but kept close to my heart, through my gifts. Now I understood Embry's dreams better, since at first we needed our sisters support, to be able to get through. Which was exactly what he'd seen during those months, every time I had put the images in his head unconsciously, which was another thing we'd accomplished doing deliberate while here.

The moment Zaïra had called us with her, we were positively ecstatic, as soon as we mastered enough of the language, we had made an agreement with her. She'd tell us when she thought we were ready, but we were never allowed to ask about it, not even once. Later we understood that it had been another part of restraining ourselves, since we had itched to ask her about a million times already, though we never actually had.

We had arranged everything while being in the city, and the car would pick us up tomorrow at one in the afternoon. We had already packed what little we had to take with us, and were headed towards a celebration in honor of our accomplishments and at the same time served as a farewell party. We had come to love our sisters here, so we were very happy to be given the opportunity to spend some time with all of them, and to say goodbye.

That night we ate our bellies full and round, and drank way too much wine along with it. There was live music, which sounded very chic, but in reality meant nothing more than a few hand drums, a cither and a number of lothars. The cither, which looked like a big bellied guitar, and lothar, a straight flute, had been unknown to us when we arrived, but we had grown accustomed to its sounds and melodies very fast.

We sang and danced throughout the night, after which we slept until it was time to go, it was weird after all this time having to do with just the basic necessities, we got into an overly luxurious limousine. Or actual flight would leave at three in the morning, so we had a hotel room in the city in order to prepare ourselves for the long journey home.

At the hotel we ate, slept and changed into one of the few sets of remaining clothes we had left. In the desert we hadn't had any use for our regular clothes, so they had been out of use for months. Resulting in them being way too big, but it would do for now. During the first flight we were able to remain fairly calm, but our anxiety grew with each passing minute during the second.

We had told no one yet, wanting it to be a surprise, but when we were in the car that would drive us back, we weren't able to keep it to ourselves any longer, Fathiya contacted Romy, and I Nessie.

"Nady?" After opening the connection I waited for her to respond as usual.

"Hey Ness!" I knew she could hear the excitement in my voice.

"What's going on?!" She asked apprehensively.

"Guess what?! We're on our way back home!" Her squeals rang loudly through my mind, but I welcomed it with open arms.

"When will you be here?" She demanded after settling down.

"Within two hours!" The since was so absolute, I was almost sure I'd lost the connection.

"And you're telling me now! I've got to go, get everything ready! You need to come straight here, I'll gather everyone!" I wanted to tell her not to, but she was already gone.

~*~

Arriving in LaPush was the most surreal experience I'd had so far, we had instructed the driver to head over to Jake and Nessie's, I hadn't seen it yet, but I knew where it was. We peered out of the windows to take in as much from the familiar surroundings as we could. It felt different, though nothing had changed, except for us.

Before we could get out of the car, it was surrounded by family members and friends. Leah was the first one to pull me into her arms, Nessie after that, but when Tom and not Embry was the next one to hold me close, I started worrying. Scanning the faces around me to find his, I knew he was close since the connection was so strong, yet I couldn't see him.

Panic took over me, I didn't understand, where the hell was he?! Then I glanced up at the window facing us, where he stood inside the house, looking at me, tears streaming over his face. Forgetting everything and everyone else, I ran inside through the open door and threw myself at him. He caught me effortlessly and held me so tight I could hardly breath, after a few moments he loosened his grip on me slightly, making it possible for me to speak again.

"I missed you so much Embry!" My voice strained from crying, but this time, they were happy tears.

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**AN:** I worked really hard to get this to you so fast! So you better show me how much you appreciated me staying up all night by reviewing ;) It'll get you the next chapter so much faster!


	2. Picking up the pieces

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing.**

**AN:** You've made me so terribly happy with all your wonderful comments, and by adding this story to your favorite or alert list!!!! I was so blown away by so many positive responses, the next chapter was there before I knew it ;) I figured you deserved a fast update, since you were so very kind to me, so here you go! Enjoy :))

Just a little note to Boo, thanks for the extremely sweet comment! Your e-mail got wiped from the post, since this site only allows links or e-mails with its own extension. But my e-mail is on my profile, so you can send me a message, or you can PM me ;)

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Picking up the pieces

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

Suddenly Embry stiffened against me, he dropped his arms and just stood there immovable, until I unlocked my arms from around his neck. As soon as I released him he stepped away from me, looking down at me in silence, his eyes cold and full of pain. Tears sprung from my eyes and trickled down my cheeks, I had just ran at him instinctively without thought, without considering the possibility of him not wanting me back.

Without another word he walked passed me, as he did I turned to see him walking out the door, without looking back. I crumpled to the floor, feeling as if my heart just got ripped out of my chest, I was too late, I had lost him. Within moments Fathiya and Taylan were at my side, lifting me off the floor, Fathiya were so attuned to each other she would have felt the shift in emotions instantly.

~*~

The next weeks passed in a blur, nothing phased me at all, I was on autopilot. I had been looking forward to the twins' birthday, but I wasn't able to enjoy it, my man had turned away from me. By leaving I had pushed him away, now he refused to come back, leaving me a broken mess. At some point Leah stormed into my room, demanding I do something with myself, that she could no longer bear to see me live that.

Suddenly I realized that by remaining in my current state, I wasn't only hurting myself, but I was also hurting the people around me. Besides Leah and Tom, Fathiya was there so often hoping to ease my pain, Nessie and Isa came by a lot too, but until that day neither of them had any success. But Leah's outburst had shaken me out of my self-misery, and I had forced myself to do something. So I had looked for my own place, gotten a job at the reservation library and moved out.

Leah had been extremely upset with me, telling me that this wasn't what she meant when she footed me under my ass. of course she hadn't, I knew that, but I needed to stand on my own two feet. If Embry didn't want me any more I'd have to find a way to be on mu own, because there was no one else I wanted, being independent in a financial and practical way was where I would start.

The apartment was on the first floor, there weren't much buildings higher that three floors total, and was quite roomy as it was built only a couple of years ago. It actually had two bedrooms, I had looked for a place with an extra bedroom purposely, so I could create a room for Isa. The complex was close to her and her grandmother, another requirement I'd when looking for a place to live.

After the day of our return I hadn't seen him, not once, no accidental passing, nothing at all. I told myself it was better that way, quit my Embry addiction cold turkey, but my heart ached for him non-stop. After a while things got easier, not less painful, but I was able to enjoy things again. I had made the decision to start taking classes at the community college next semester, so I had started reading up on subjects I wanted to take there.

Outside work hours, I visited Nessie a lot, her little girl growing rapidly, I had missed so much already. She was six months old, but looked like she had already passed her first birthday, according to Carlisle she'd reach full maturity at the age of 10. Nessie had reached the physical age of 2oish within only 7 years, a third of how long it would take a regular human, her daughter would do it in half the time.

Fathiya wanted to stay with her parents, her and Taylan weren't having the problems I was experiencing with Embry. Then again, they hadn't been thinking about weddings and children, or at the point where they were about to move in together. So he had been able to forgive her, it wasn't that I didn't wasn't happy for them, but it was hard to see that they quickly fell back to the relationship they'd had before.

Since we were now as close as sisters were supposed to be, or maybe even closer, so living apart had been hard for us at first. Now we had gotten used to it, tough the need to see each other regularly was still there. She brought over Taylan as often as she could, cause though it hurt me to see them together, it hurt more having to miss one of my best friends.

The twins had taken to me instantly, as if they had recognized me from the first three months of their lives, which was highly unlikely, but none of us would be surprised if it turned out to be true. But the person who became most prominent in my life was Isa, she had just had a birthday, and was taking it upon her five year old self to be the one to rescue me. She in her turn needed me in a more practical way.

Her grandmother was growing weaver with each passing day, I feared she wouldn't hold out much longer. Both of them felt it too, I could tell from Isa's demeanor whenever she spoke of her nana, that's what she called her. Nana in her turn had asked me if I was willing to take on the care of Isa full time if something were to happen to her, naturally I accepted, Isa had found a place in to my heart and had taken up permanent residence there.

Everything had been set up officially through a notary, so in the worst case scenario things were settled, though I hoped she'd stay with us for a few more years. In the meanwhile Isa stayed with me as often as possible, if she wasn't I would take her to school and back, wanting to relieve Nana of as much of the duties as possible.

In the mean time Isa was fighting my battles for me, no matter how many times I told her not to, I still kept hearing from the others that she was. Apparently she and Embry had gotten quite close during the months I'd been gone, but she refused to speak to him now, whenever she did feel the need to express herself towards him she just yelled at him. Telling him that he was mean, that I missed him and needed him, she was too young to understand things weren't always that simple.

~*~

Isa and her grandmother were sitting in the living room, Isa was talking continuously about an incident she had at school today. Apparently she had gotten into a fight with a girl in her class about how her injuries had been fake all along, and that's why she was able to go to school again now. Her telling the story made me realize how incredibly cruel kids can be, and how bad I felt that she wasn't able to defend herself by telling the truth.

"I'm sorry that happened to you today Isa, as much as I am sorry that you're forced to keep my secret, I'll talk to your teacher about it next Monday." She was really sweet, and knew about our arrangement, every aspect of it. So I was certain that she had not been aware of the situation today, or she would have done something about it.

"Oh I don't mind, I'll just let her talk, she doesn't know anything! Besides I will happily keep your secret, because how many kids can say their best friend is a witch!" The moment the words crossed her lips, her eyes grew wide and she quickly cover her mouth.

"Isa!" Nana gasped at her granddaughters' remark.

"I'm sorry! I don't mean it like that, but I think you and Fathiya are witches, good ones of course!" She rambled quickly, making me smile genuinely.

"Well actually, in Arabic we're called 'kahina' that basically means witch or sorceress , so to call us witches isn't that weird at all," I looked at Isa encouragingly, who's shameful blush burned brightly on her cheeks.

"So you really are a witch?!" Isa gaped, I nodded my agreement, still smiling.

"See Nana! I knew it! She's a witch, she's a witch, she's a witch-"I interrupted her chant, which was accompanied by a wild happy dance including an enormous amount of jumping, by laughing full out for the first time since my return.

Isa's cheerful presence warmed my heart, she made me live again, she almost made me happy. Looking at her proud face, which resulted in her realizing she was the one to make me laugh again, I knew we were connected for life. After starting over from scratch, which was a hard thing to do, I was finally picking up the pieces.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

She was back, her return should've made me happy, but it didn't. Sure I was relieved that she came back in one piece, or that she even came back at all, but she had don an irreparable amount of damage to my heart. No, don't start accusing me of being a girl, I'm not! What?! Men don't have feelings?! Well, I do, and right now I'm angry at the world, but most of all I was angry at Nadira, and everybody close to me had to suffer for it.

When she had flung herself into my arms I couldn't think anymore, the familiar shape of her body pressed against mine, right where it belonged. Her scent intoxicating, she smelled better than she ever had, I inhaled deeply to take in as much of her as I could. Wrapping my arms tight around her, pressing her as close to me as I could manage. Just for an instant, and that instant alone I'd been happy.

Though, as soon as my brain came online again, I went rigid, horrified about the way I hadn't stood my ground as I had promised myself. The cold found its way back into my heart, making it drop down again, after its momentary rise. I had released her and gotten out of there as soon as I could, feeling angry glares from a few of the wolf girls as I went, but it didn't made me go any slower.

Now I'd been getting in arguments over her, all over the rez. all the time, I couldn't believe how much of them were taking her side. Had they forgotten, she was the one to start it all, she had lied to me over and over again, to my face. She had betrayed me, up until the moment that she was gone I hadn't had a clue about what was going on, until it was too late and she had fucking left me! I was all her fault.

The person that I was mad at almost as much as Nadira was Taylan, sad little wimp. He had just taken Fathiya back without a fuss, spreading his lovey dovey feelings throughout the pack mind whenever he phased. He was the one in part responsible for making me look bad, everyone just assumed that if he could do it, why couldn't I.

But what they didn't get, that while he was still in the phase where he constantly dreamed of fucking his girlfriend senseless, I was imagining her carrying my babies. To see her round with my baby growing inside of her, had been my deepest desire, and the fact that my best friend was living the exact life I wanted didn't help much. Sure they had their fair share of issues, especially when the Volturi decided to show up, but Nessie had remained by his side through all of it.

Most of the fights I had were with Taylan, he had me mad within a flash due to different reasons. First: he was actually having contact with Nadira, being her friend and all that shit. Secondly: I actually had to see it whenever we were phased at the same time, he was deliberately showing me images from them hugging and laughing. Third: he was taking her side and calling me out on what he called chikeny behavior. Fourth: this wasn't the first time I had issues with him over Nadira, the time her father was released from jail, he had seen it as his job to protect her from me, loser! Fifth: I was one hundred percent positive he had been totally in love with Nadira before he imprinted. Sixth and last: he was just a prick in general, I had gotten along with ok before all of this shit, but now I couldn't stand the guy.

As I said plenty of reasons for me to hold a grudge against the guy, so at least once a week we were going at it, leaving us severely injured whenever we were done mauling each other. Jake just let us do our thing, knowing we were both angry and would survive just about anything we'd be able to do to each other. Sometimes he messed me up so bad I'd need more than a full day to heal, getting instantly angry again when I saw his cocky ass prancing by completely scratch free, his witchy girlfriend having healed him the moment she saw him.

Then there was the occasional verbal assault from either Leah or Nessie, I figured Fathiya would like to do her fair share of scolding, but for some incomprehensible reason didn't. Leah and Nessie were not that easy, whenever one of them decided it was time again, I'd had to undergo an endless lecture about how I couldn't ignore my imprint and that I was destroying my chances with Nadira. Most of their rants would go in one ear and out the other, it couldn't hurt me if I wasn't listening, so I kept to the tactic that worked for me.

The only one that was able to reach me, was Isa, she had turned on me, practically the same moment Nadira had came back. She was always so cheerful, I really missed her, the girl was infallible when it came to deciphering good from bad. So the fact that she had forgiven Nadira for leaving, in fact not being mad at her at all, was unsettling to say the least. The things she said to me, hurt me to the bone, once I'd made the mistake of telling her she shouldn't believe all the bad things Nadira was saying about me.

That had been the worst thing I ever could have done as far as Isa was concerned, she screamed at me that I was stupid, that Nadira loved me and would never say anything bad about me. Now, of course I knew that she wouldn't do that, I had just been mad. Which made me feel even worse, because it meant that I had been lashing out at a five year old. Man was I screwed up.

~*~

Throughout the weeks I kept track of whatever she did through Jake, so I knew it when she had started working at the library, that she had found her own place and when she moved out of Leah's place. I tell ya, you wouldn't believe how much it stung that she was moving on so quickly, doing what we should have been doing together. Then there was the part of her signing papers along with Nana, making sure she'd be the one to get Isa if and when her she would leave us. So in some weird way she would even be starting a family without me.

But when I noticed Nathan taking an interest in her I nearly lost it, remembering the situation with Seth and Lily last year, I knew Jake would never forbid him to be with her, if that was what she wanted. When I confided in Jake with my worries, his reply had been simple, if I would forgive her already, she'd never want to be with Nathan in the first place. If I couldn't do that, I'd better stop whining about it now.

Unable to do so, I had to watch him bond with my imprint, but when I confronted him with it he just laughed. Said it was ridiculous to claim her if I had no intention of being with her myself. That shit head even had a point, what if I never would be able to forgive her, should she remain single throughout the rest of her life for my sake? Realizing it was the most ludicrous idea ever, I started contemplating trying to forgive her, maybe if I told myself often enough I'd be able to do actually do it.

One faithful day, I ran into her in the grocery store, we had managed to avoid each other for nearly three months, but there she was. She didn't see me at first, her back towards me as she stood in front of the cereal section, grabbing what I recognized as Isa's favorite. But suddenly she froze, as if sensing me watching her, before turning around slowly.

Everything happened in slow-motion then, as her face appeared before me, unbearably slow, I reacted. At first she seemed unsure of what to do, I read the hesitance on her face, but it shifted into sadness when she saw what was going on inside of me. There was no need for me to consider forgiving her, the anger immediately filled my chest when I saw her face, apparently I hadn't hidden it very well. Because she turned and walked away in the other direction, instantly I dropped my basket and ran out the store. Later that week I heard Nathan was no longer trying to persuade Nadira to go on a date with him, he had succeeded, they'd be going out this Saturday.

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**AN:** Now I know a lot of you are not happy with me, after reading this! But pleaser try to imagine being in his shoes, I'd be pissed about a lot of things ;))


	3. Moving on

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing.**

**AN:** Aww, you guys are the best! I'm seriously loving your reviews :)) Mostly I reply each review I get, just to show you how much I appreciate them! Those of you who review without logging on, I can't reply or answer your questions. If you would like me to, log on before reviewing or send me a pm/e-mail, and I'll make sure to answer them ;)

I've gotten a few questions about Isa, and since she'll be a prominent character in this story I wanted to address it in mu AN. Isa was introduced at the very end of Blossoming, she's a five year old girl, who got into a car accident with her parents. She lost her parents that day, and though she survived, she was paralyzed from the upper waist down. Nadira and Fathiya healed her, after her grandmother took her to them, so she's no longer bound to her wheelchair. Hope that clears things up! If not, you know how to reach me ;)

On a more official note, EmbryForMe4, is my new beta for this story! I really had a need for someone to dot my i's for me, so I'm so grateful that she's willing to do that for me ;)

Final note, this is a heavy chapter, and there are a million things I could say about it, but I'm just gonna let you read and make up your own mind ;))

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Moving on

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

"Nathan, you don't have to do that!" He was taking up the groceries from my car to my apartment.

"Sure I don't, but what if I want to?" Grinning his cocky grin I had gotten used to over the past weeks.

He had come over to fix a busted pipe in my bathroom a while , initially I had called Jake, but when he couldn't make it he had just decided to send him over instead. I knew him only by reputation, which was that of a tremendous womanizer, well he had to be if he was taking such interest in another wolf's imprint. After we got talking I came to realize we got along pretty well, he wasn't acing like a Casanova at all, but then again I suspected the best ones wouldn't.

After that he came over randomly, instantly hitting it off with Isa, which was surprising considering the fact that she was set on getting Embry and me back together; he was clearly good at what he did. Despite his efforts I kept telling him I appreciated him being my friend, but that I wasn't interested in more. My heart still belonged to Embry, it always would, but then Taylan let something slip when he was here.

"Taylan, you've got to stop talking about him like that, I know you don't like it that he doesn't want to be with me, but he's free to make his own choices! It's not like he did something wrong!" Why couldn't he stop blaming Embry for all of this, I knew there was a chance things would turn out like this.

"Yeah right!" He sorted loudly. "Tell that to the women he's worked over while you were gone!"

The knife I'd been holding clattered loudly on my plate when I dropped it, Embry had slept with other women?! I got up out of my seat, feeling the need to run off somewhere, but not knowing where to. The moment I stood up straight my head started spinning, dizzy from getting up to fast I strumpled to the balcony. Behind me I could hear Fathiya scolding Taylan for having such a big mouth, but I didn't register half of it.

As soon as my head cleared I grabbed my keys and flew out the door, there was one person who could tell me the truth on the matter. Getting in my car, I took off way too fast, desperate to get there as soon as possible. Slamming the brakes when I got there, I didn't even bother to lock it, as I jumped out of the car. Without knocking I grabbed the handle and pushed the back door open, it was always unlocked, and right now I didn't want to give them time to think.

Rude as hell, I just barged in, to find a very startled Nessie and Jake at the dinner table. Nessie moved to get up, but I waved her off motioning her to stay seated, it wasn't her I needed anyway. Jake seemed to understand what I was here for, I saw his eyes flickering to Nessie worriedly, but I was too upset to even be interested in what he was trying to make clear. Having him in front of me, I decided there was no need for a lead in, and just blurted it out.

"Did Embry sleep with… women when I wasn't here?!" Swallowing the word _other_ at the last minute, I looked him straight in the eyes and mentally dared him to lie.

"Nadira, how could you think that, Embry would never-" Nessie started, but I kept my eyes on Jake.

She broke off when she saw his expression, for a moment he seemed to hesitate, but then he nodded, confirming what I really knew already. Unable to form any coherent thoughts I plopped into a chair and closed my eyes, how could I've been so blind, if he didn't want me back, why had I expected him to stay faithful to me? He wouldn't have a reason to, now would he.

"Jake! You knew?!" Nessie was completely freaking out at her husband.

"Nessie, it wasn't my secret to tell! Besides, I was worried that you wouldn't want to keep it from Nadira and that she wouldn't come home at all if she knew. She is part of our family Ness, with or without Embry, and she needed to come back to us!" Surprised I looked at Jake, I had no idea he thought of me like family.

"Thanks Jake, that's really sweet of you to say," he had managed to calm me down just like that, telling me what I needed to hear.

"You're not mad at him for not telling you sooner?" Nessie looked at me, surprise visible on her face.

"Like he said, it wasn't his secret to tell, besides he didn't lie when I asked him straight out." I respected him for not trying to cover up for Embry.

"I promised Embry not to volunteer any information, but I warned him that I wouldn't lie about it if you asked," he explained casually, so casual that I dared to push a little further.

"Ok, so what if I asked you how many?" I looked at him to gauge his response, surprised when he started smiling.

"I'd tell you to get your information elsewhere, cause I simply don't know how many." Ok, fair enough, eventually I would find out, I would make sure of it.

~*~

Back at my apartment I found a very confused Taylan and Fathiya, of course they hadn't known where I was going or how long I'd be gone.

"I'm sorry for leaving like that guys, but I needed to be sure," they looked at me apprehensively.

"And?" Fathiya finally uttered.

"It's true, he has shared the bed with a number of women while we were gone," truth be told I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know how many, what difference would it make.

"I'm so sorry Nadira, I shouldn't have dropped the bomb on you like that," Taylan felt bad for what he'd done, but it wasn't his fault, besides I'm glad I found out now.

"I'm not, not about you telling me that is," maybe this would make it easier to move on.

~*~

The next day I ran into him at the grocery store, it was the first time I'd seen him in the months I'd been back, my heart sped up involuntarily. My body's first reaction was to get near him as fast as I could, but I stopped myself before I actually moved, remembering what I'd found out yesterday. It hurt seeing him, while knowing he'd been doing other women for god knows how long, maybe he was still doing it. This so wasn't like him, that's why I hadn't seen it, the Embry I knew never would've done that.

Turning around to get away from him was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but I did it, things were shifting between us. So far I had him up on this pedestal, that I had ruined the what we had, that I might not be worthy of him, but maybe I wasn't the only one to blame. I quickly got what I needed and headed over to the register, wanting to get home fast.

Only when I was about to enter the hallway that offered entrance to four apartments, I noticed Nathan sitting on the steps leading up to it. My façade vanishing into thin air at the sight of him, never had I been so happy as I was now, to see him. Without a word he took the bag from my hand and grabbed it with his free one, guiding me back to my apartment. Once we arrived there he nudged me gently to the couch and put away the groceries, before sitting down next to me.

"What happened?" He asked finally.

"I saw him today, just now, at the store." I looked into his sad face, as he understood what I was telling him.

"Are you ok? Did he say anything?" I shook my head, realizing it applied to both questions.

"I know Nathan, I know what he did!" Tears started pouring out of my eyes, just when I thought I's done my crying by now, I found out that I had an entire batch to spare.

"Oh god, Nadira!" He didn't hesitate, and simply lifted me of the couch to place me on his lap.

He was so warm, so strong, feeling his arms around me reminded me of how good it had felt to be held by Embry. It wasn't the same of course, but it was similar in a way, and it felt good to be surrounded by him like this. I had gone almost the entire year without any intimacy at all, and it was starting to take its toll on me. Holding out had been easy when I had been waiting for Embry, but now that Isaw chances were very slim of us ever getting back together, it was getting harder. Would it really be so bad to give him a chance? He had been so kind and sweet to me all this time, he was no Embry, but maybe I could settle for second best?

In a split second I made a decision, and without thinking it through, I pressed my lips on his. At first he was surprised, but within mere moments he was kissing me back. I had a general lack of experience in this area, but I could tell there was something missing. While my body responded to him instantly, there were no butterflies, like there had been with Embry. This was what they meant when they said it could feel good, even without the presence of love, now I could understand how people could be intimate without being in love with each other.

"Not like this, I don't want it to be like this," Nathan panted when he pulled away from me.

"How would you do it then?" I questioned him.

That's how the whole dating thing was set in motion, perhaps I could never love him as fiercely as I loved Embry, but perhaps I could grow to care for him in a loving kind of way.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

As soon as the news reached me, through no other than Taylan of course, I exploded. Literally, I exploded into a wolf, something that hadn't happened for a while. But being on edge like this for so long, had already made me wonder earlier how long it would take before it actually happened. Hearing that stupid prick telling about how Nadira had been second guessing herself, after she'd agreed to go on a date with mister player, was absolute torture.

But when he told me that he and Fathiya had actually encouraged her to go out with him, since she's enjoyed kissing him so much, I freakin lost it. Leaping for Taylan with the intention of killing him, appeared to be the point where Jake thought it to be enough. Ordering me to back down with an Alpha command, was necessary to make me halt my attack, when I started whining loudly he ordered the others to phase back.

"When is this gonna stop Embry?!" He asked me angrily.

"He was being deliberately obnoxious!"I defended myself meekly.

"So what, I would be doing the same thing in his position! He's just trying to look out for his friend." Jake tried to be rational, but I wouldn't listen.

"His friend, yeah right, he just wants her for himself!" Jake was utterly surprised I'd actually sink this low.

"He hasn't been unfaithful to his imprint, you have. Why do you think Nadira even considered dating Nathan at all?" Just when I was about to yell something bad about Nathan, I realized what he said.

"She knows?!" Oh god, I had driven into Cooper's arms myself!

"Yes, so I suggest you quit yammering about whose fault it is and start looking at yourself!" This were harsh words, spoken by a good friend, so I figured they must hold some truth.

~*~

The next days were hard, it seemed as if it hadn't been real until I realized she knew. There hadn't been many, just a few, but the fact that it had happened at all was bad enough. Afterwards I had felt horrible, but by then it had been too late, as if I was a hard learner I had repeated my mistake two times after the first. Those women had meant nothing to me, and they knew it too, but I desperately had wanted to make my pain go away. So when they were kind to me, and I came to the conclusion I actually felt better about myself, even if just for a moment, I took the easy way out.

The pain I inflicted upon myself by sleeping with them, was harder to deal with, than missing Nadira in the first place. What had I been thinking, that sleeping with someone other than my imprint wouldn't make me feel bad?! Even the ones who had imprinted on a little girl would hardly have sex, because they felt so terribly guilty about it, but mine was 18 years old! Her being gone and the pain it caused was an excuse for the most part, I knew it had been my anger and damaged pride, that were causing my reckless behavior.

I just couldn't handle it that I hadn't seen it, that I'd been telling people the good news about us moving in, while she never had any intention of doing so. How small did I feel knowing I'd always been so proud of the wonderful, truthful relation I had with my uniquely special imprint, and often mentioned this my pack mates. Before I met her I wouldn't shy away from the attention of women, in fact I quite enjoyed it, so now I felt the need to prove to myself and everybody around me that bachelor Embry was still there.

When in truth, he really wasn't, sleeping with those women had taught me that. Nadira had left me, she had betrayed me, and yet she was the very center of my thoughts. Since the moment I realized having sex with other women didn't solve anything I had refrained from entering bars and such, if I felt the need to drink, I'd do so at home. My anger grew and grew with being aware of how great her hold over me still was, which had gotten me where I was now, refusing to let Nadira be part of my life.

Now it was quite possible that it was too late, she knew and I knew it must have hurt her finding out. Hell she'd be the last person to cheat, but now she'd been kissing my beta Nathan, and apparently enjoyed doing it. Well he'd know how to kiss, he's had plenty of practice, but then I came to the realization that I was worse than he'd been, as far as I knew he'd never cheated. He was single and enjoying life, but despite the fact that he didn't have an imprint yet, he had never lied to the women he slept with; who was I to judge him.

It took me a while to get there, but I'd finally come to the decision that I wasn't ready to let her go, though I wasn't ready to move forward either, but at least now I knew I had to talk to her about it. It had been a few weeks since their date, and I sincerely hoped that it had been their last. It was already dark, but my watch told me I still head time to go over to her place, I'd better do it now before I chickened out again.

The scene that I found at her place had been burned onto my cornea's forever, I'd climbed up to her balcony, and peered into her dark living room. That's when I saw them on the couch, his hands all over her, and she let him! All the logic I'd managed to accumulate earlier went out the window, or in this case off the balcony, and I roughly pounded on the glass separating me from them.

"What the fuck?!" Nathan yelled while pulling open the window, but instead of answering I jumped in and pushed him against the nearest wall.

"You keep your dirty paws off my imprint!" I pushed out through gritted teeth, but before he could react, Nadira was pushing at me.

"Embry Call! Let him go this instant!" I stood there dumbfounded, to dazed to be aware of the fact that I was still holding him in place, she tried one more time.

"Don't make me hurt you, you know I can and god knows I will!" Her threatening me shook me out of it, instantly releasing Nathan.

"You're too late!" Nathan bellowed loudly, panic visible in his eyes, did the bastard care for her?! Great, that made it so much better, I thought sarcastically.

"Nathan, maybe it's best if you go, I need to talk to him, I'll call you later ok?" The way she was being sweet to him made me feel nauseated, bile actually rising in my throat when he kissed her goodnight, thoroughly.

The instant he left I felt relieved, the imprint stealer was gone, I looked at Nadira who stood leaning against the door with her forehead. Obviously conflicted, which meant she cared for him as well, I cursed myself for letting it come this far. Then it hit me, I looked at her and anger didn't make its way to the surface, did this mean that I had finally forgiven her? I moved to open my mouth to thank her for making him leave, but the second she turned to me I snapped my mouth shut again, rage visible on the perfect most beautiful face I'd ever seen.

"You don't get to come in here and judge me! You don't get to be mad at me for being with Nathan! Not after what you did!"

She came at me, her finger raised fury burning fiercely in her eyes, her voice thick with hurt. I was ready to take whatever she threw at me, but what happened next I hadn't expected. While she was approaching me I was stepping backwards, knowing full well she could hurt me if she felt like it. Suddenly I felt the back of my knees against the couch, making me plop into it without intending to do so.

But instead of hurting me, she straddled me and grabbed my face, angrily pressing her lips to mine. I gripped her hips tightly and returned the kiss, which was making me feel as if I were on fire, burning whole from the inside out.

* * *

**AN: **See what I meant ;)


	4. Blind with passion

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing.**

**AN:** Firstly I'd like to address some of the very concerned comments about Embry and Nadira I've received. Mainly, I justed wanted to let all of you know, that though I love me some drama, I love Embry and Nadira more! This chapter is all about how much they need each other, despite having a few things to work out ;)

You're reviews were totally awesome, reading them always puts a smile to my face, and get my fingers typing of course! Really looking forward to find out what you think about this chapter, so let me know ;))

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Blind with passion

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

The nerve of him, he did not just barge in here, coming through the freakin balcony doors no less, to tell ME off! Part of me whished I'd taken it a step further with Nathan, simply because he had too, but I couldn't. We'd been very close too, but at the last moment I'd stopped Nathan, unable to proceed. How could I do that, sleeping with Nathan, pretending it was Embry? Despite everything he did, I loved Embry, my heart belonged to him and always would, besides it wouldn't have been fair to Nathan either. He needed a girl that only had eyes for him, not one who was hung up on someone else.

He'd been so sweet about it, not even making the slightest fuss, though he knew Embry was the reason I wouldn't be with him. It made me even madder, how could Embry have done that, how could he do that with someone else?! To me that could only mean one thing, he didn't love me as much as I him. It made me think of him as dirty, picturing him with some slut, it had to have been sluts, it was the only way for me to process this. If they had been nice, and he'd been using them, it would made me think of him in even a worse way and that was something I couldn't handle.

After sending Nathan away, another thing I felt bad about I turned around to face Embry. Emotions ran through me, pain, love, despair, but mainly anger, all this time I'd felt live such a bad person, for hurting him. He had blamed me, and I had taken it. I had tortured myself, wallowing in guilt for three months, before finding out that he's had an equally big part in destroying our relationship, maybe even bigger. After all, I didn't have a choice, doing what I did, it had to be like that. It had been the biggest sacrifice I'd made in my life, I'd done it despite the simple fact that I didn't want too. I walked over to him, all I wanted to do, was kick him in the nuts!

"You don't get to come in here and judge me! You don't get to be mad at me for being with Nathan! Not after what you did!"

I shoved him, hard, making him fall onto the couch, but then did something I hadn't planned on doing. It was as if I no longer had control over my body, it was moving on its own accord. Emotions accumulating inside of me, I wanted to be close to him so bad, it overpowered my ability to reason. Giving in to the sheer strength of my uncontrollable desire, I straddled him, putting my hands on his face with all the force I had in me, and smashed my lips against his. The instant we connected, I realized this was exactly what I needed, him, his warmth, his touch, his love. I'd settle for two out of three, if it meant keeping him with me tonight.

Embry seemed to baffled to respond for a split second, but then I felt his hands tighten on my hips, pressing me closer to him. While I was gone, I'd been longing for it, for the last three months I'd been wishing for it, tonight I'd be getting it. My mouth broke free from his, though he held on tight, refusing to let me go. Roughly I ripped off his T-shirt, tearing it open right down the middle, simply to indicate I was nowhere near done with him. He got the message and released me, desire burning in his eyes.

Getting up was not easy, my knees were weak from the thrill of finally being able to touch him, but when Embry understood what I was trying to do, he simply lifted me off the couch. Firmly gripping my thighs to keep me up, giving me time to wrap my legs around his hips, so I could keep myself up. Once I had, his hands slid under my dress up to my butt, massaging them through the thin material of my panties. As I moaned loudly, I pressed myself against him, feeling his arousal throb between my legs.

"Bedroom, second door on the right!" My voice rough, I whispered the instruction in his ear, before nipping his earlobe lightly, allowing myself to suck his lobe in between my lips.

"Ugh, Nady!" He was breathing heavily as he searched for the bedroom, after having found it, he slammed the door closed, and put me down on the floor.

As he did, the shreds of his shirt fell off his shoulders, leaving his sculpted chest naked in front of me. He was reaching for the hem of my dress, but before he could pull it up, I ran my nails down over the upper part of his torso. Breaking the skin in the process, he screamed out in a mixture of pleasure and pain, I imagine not many females were able to do this to a werewolf. But my total control over my powers, allowed me to use my shield like talent, to keep my nails from breaking. He looked at me in utter surprise, I just smiled at him wickedly. Before removing the straps of my loose summer dress, letting them slide of my shoulders as the dress, and stepping out of it after it had fallen to the floor.

He inhaled sharply at the sight of me, he almost seemed to pass out, when I continued removing my bra and panties. I stepped closer to him, putting the palms of my hands flat up against his chest, rubbing my thumbs over his nipples. This got him moving again, as a heavy rumbling rose from his chest, he pulled me against him, once again kissing me intensely. Feeling his shorts touching my bare belly, instead of his smooth hot skin, annoyed me. Not breaking our lip lock, I grabbed the waistband and tugged it down along with his boxers, until it was loose enough to drop to the floor. He didn't waste another second, he kicked the material away freeing his feet, and pressed me up against the wall.

His hands roamed my body, lingering on my breasts a little longer, admiring them for a moment. But soon they found their way up in my hair, right where they belonged. I sighed contentedly, when I felt his fingers running through the tousled strands, gripping my curls so rough it almost hurt. Embry's mouth was on my neck, kissing, sucking, simply tormenting me, with those evil lips of his. Impatiently I ground myself against him, the need to feel him inside me expanding every second, making me feel like I could explode at any minute. Burying my hands in his hair, I tugged it furiously, hoping to spur him along. Finally he aligned himself with my entrance, and slowly but determinedly pushed into me, filling me wholly within seconds.

Feeling his size stretch me, as I was unable to adjust to him as easily as I used too, I whimpered slightly. But the uncomfortable feeling didn't last long, as he started moving his hips, pulling out of me and thrusting back in again forcefully. Our breaths labored, he was working up a thin layer of sweat, making his dark skin shimmer in the moonlight, as we headed towards climax. He quickened his pace as we came closer, sounds of pleasure filling the room. My muscles tightening in anticipation of the upcoming release, moving my hips along with his, adapting to the new rhythm he'd set. As I felt myself clench around him, he thrust into me a couple times more, while I rode out the waves of my orgasm, and felt him explode inside of me. We remained there, unable to move, trying to settle our breath's .

"Oh god, I missed you so much!" He uttered, catching my mouth in a passionate kiss, the urgency we'd had before dissipated.

Gently moving my lips in sync with his, I reveled in the taste of him, the feel of his soft lips, caressing mine. He trailed a path of kisses from the corner of my mouth to my earlobe, sucking it gently, before moving on to the sensitive spot in my neck. My arms had been resting around his neck, trying to hold on, now they moved to his back, where I let my hands explore the taut muscles beneath his feverish skin. We hadn't taken the time to really enjoyed other before, rushing towards the release we so desperately needed, but we were making up for it now.

His hands now gentle instead of rough, as they crept towards my breasts, circling them lazily. I looked into Embry's eyes, the lust that had been there before was now replaced with love, I had forgotten what it had felt like to have him look at me like that. Those hazel green eyes gazing into mine, while he straightened up, asking me silently to love him, to be with him. Unable to refuse his plea, I tipped my head up, stretching as far as I could, kissing him sweetly, to answer him just as silently.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

As she kissed me again, this time it wasn't lust driving her, it was love. The revelation had such impact, and instantly I felt myself harden again inside of her. But this time I wanted to be able to look at her, so I pulled her against me, moving us to the bed, holding her up, unwilling to break the connection. I laid her on the bed, her legs dangling off the side from the knees down, as I settled between her legs, kneeling on the carpet next to her bed. I looked down at Nadira's gorgeous body, she'd changed in the last three months, while she'd been fairly thin on the day she returned, she had returned to her regular weight. And I could be mistaken, but her breasts seemed to have grown a little fuller, than they had been before.

Leaning down to kiss her, I started moving again, slowly this time, afraid to rush anything. I wanted to linger on every part of her, giving it the attention it deserved, cherishing every inch of her. straightening up again, I was able to look at her, seeing the expression on her face as I moved in and out of her. She kept her eyes open as long as she could, until it pleasure overtook her, and I saw them roll back. My hands moved over her flat belly, where I could feel the muscles tauten under my touch, when they moved up, grazing her nipples.

"Aah! Embry!" Not needing more encouragement, I took one of them in my mouth, caressing the hardened bud with my tongue, making her scream out in pleasure.

She ached back under my lips, as I switched sides, while I maintained the slow maddening tempo. But when she started pushing me with her heels, urging me to move faster, I gave in. Putting her legs up to my chest, letting them lean against my shoulders, so I could have better access. The new position provided another angle, leaving me free to move, without her being able to coerce me in any way.

Pumping in faster I felt her rise again, wanting to give her ultimate pleasure, I started rubbing her sensitive nub along with my movements. She moaned and writhed under me, desperate for another release, which she reached quickly with the added sensations of my fingers. She clenched around me, coming hard, making me fall over the edge the exact same moment. After that, we were both utterly spent, barely able to climb into her bed, where we snuggled together and fell asleep.

~*~

The next morning I woke, her still form in my arms, I had held onto her the entire night. I smiled happily, now that I had her back, I'd never let her go again. Placing a soft kiss on her hair, I swiftly moved away from her, getting out of bed carefully, pulling on my boxers and shorts. Looking back at her, my imprint, my Nadira, I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been. I'd spend a life time making it up to her, if that's what it took. Right now, I was settling for breakfast in bed. Walking across the hall, headed towards kitchen I heard very familiar footsteps approach, Isa.

"Hey Isa!" Pulling open the door, I greeted her enthusiastically.

"Embry?" She asked surprised, naturally confused why I was opening Nadira's door, wearing nothing but shorts, my hair tousled from sleep.

"Yeah, come in, are you alone?" That was weird, she's only five.

"Yeah, we live across the street, so nana said I could walk along with the postmen, to cross." She explained wisely.

"Oh, well, that's ok I guess. So I was about to make breakfast, do you want some?" She eyed me suspiciously, waiting for an explanation, I wouldn't be providing.

"Sure," she answered eventually when I didn't say anything else.

But Isa, wouldn't be Isa, if she wasn't determined. As soon as I started searching for equipment, she started commenting. First how my inability to locate anything, indicated that I probably hadn't been here before, but that was only the beginning. Soon she was asking all sorts of questions, all on the subject of Nady and me. She was starting to annoy me, not with her questions, but because her questions made me realize I didn't know the answer to them. Last night had been great, but there had been a serious lack of talking, I had no idea where we stood now.

"Isa?" Nadira's voice sounded sleepy, when she came into the kitchen, her hair all cute and messy, I loved it.

"Hah! Maybe Nadira can answer some of my questions." Isa said smugly.

"First I want some coffee," Nadira said while giving Isa a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, would I get one too?

The next few seconds seemed to last forever, I could see Isa's face scrunch up, as she squinted to watch us carefully. My heartbeat sped up, as I saw Nadira take a few more steps towards me, anxious to see what she would do. Her eyes flashed from me to Isa, and back again, obviously realizing what she wanted to see. Then it happened, she stood up on her toes, lifted her chin up, and firmly placed a kiss on my lips. My heart skipped a few beats, and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her, before letting her step away again.

"Finally!" Isa screamed, showing me the girl I'd missed a great deal as well.

"What is it sweetie?" Nadira asked, faking ignorance.

"You two, you've stopped fighting, you're in love again!" She ran at me, trusting me to catch her. As I did, I lifted her high up in the air, and spun her around.

"Now I can be nice to you again!" She whispered in my ear, while clinging to me, keeping her small arms locked tightly around my neck.

"That is good news, why didn't you tell me, I would have made up with Nady a lot sooner!" She pulled back to throw me a stern look.

"That's not funny Embry, you knew why I couldn't talk to you, even if I missed you so much." She confessed, slightly ashamed.

"I missed you too little one." I said happily.

"Little one?! I thought that was me?!" Nadira suddenly said loudly.

"Nah, you're not so little anymore!" I let my eyes run over her, lingering on her chest, before cocking my eyebrow suggestively.

"Embry! " Her cheeks flushed adorably, making me want to kiss her again, but with Isa on my arm, I settled for the next best thing and pulled her into a hug.

"But Embry's right Nady, you're not little, you're almost 19 now!" Isa said knowingly.

"Exactly! Sorry honey bun, I'll just have to think of something else to call you!" I smiled down at her.

"Well, I'm voting no on that one!" A disgusted look settling on her face.

We had breakfast together, Nadira surprised me by drinking strong black coffee, while I had known her to drink it with lots of sugar and milk, and then she still preferred it to be not too strong. She told me she had gotten over that pretty quickly in the desert, milk had been the first one to go, sugar soon followed since it was in scarce supply where she lived. Telling me this, made me think back to my time alone, which was painful. But for the first time, I was curious to what else she'd experienced there, she'd been back for months, but I didn't know anything yet.

The rest of the morning Isa and me spend listening to Nadira tell stories, from the bad things, the lack of basic necessities, the weather, the harsh sandstorms that could appear ever so suddenly. But also the good things, how she had connected with her sisters, like the pack considered themselves brothers, she thought of them as sisters. How she'd struggled to learn the language, which she had managed in a very short amount of time, since she needed it so much. Also explaining how her powers worked, what she'd learned about herself, and it made me see that her journey had not been in vain.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how stubborn camels are! No, I'm not kidding, they're too high up to climb on, the need to be on their knees. But once you're seated, they won't get up, seriously, sometimes another of our group had to pull the reigns really hard! And they're so slow, it would take us two days to get into town, which would take you four hours by car!" She continued telling us as much as she could remember about her camel friends, including the one time where one had actually bitten her.

We had fun, we laughed, the mood was light, and yet there was this gnawing feeling in my gut, that it wouldn't last.

* * *

**AN:** I think we can safely say they're back together again! As you might expect, them rushing into things, is not gonna be without consequence though ;)


	5. That bitch!

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing.**

**AN:** Not much to say about this chapter, just read and see for yourself ;) For those of you who haven't heard it yet, I'm on Christmas break and writing my heart out. The next chapter is as good as finished, your reviews will deliver it to you!

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That bitch!

~*~

POV: Nadira

July 10th 2015

~*~

News traveled fast about Embry and me, especially with Isa's big mouth at work, it was good to see everybody so happy about us reconnecting. It had been a few weeks now, and things were good, we were both happy to be together again. He stayed over at my place a lot, and I just loved being near him, I never realized how much influence he had on my state of mind. While I had thought I'd been doing pretty well on my own, it was nothing compared to how I was feeling now, whenever he was with me it was if I was in a constant state of deliria.

It were the times that we spend apart that were harder, silent moments in which the image of Embry kissing a faceless women intruded my mind. And every single time it did, my heart lurched, feeling as if it was having the life forcefully squeezed out it. It hurt so damn much!

"Are you ready sweetalicious?" He was still set on finding a new nickname for me.

"If you promise never to call me that again, I am!" Giving him a angry glare I walked up to him by the front door, warning him not to use another one from the chapter of ridiculous names he had recently settled on.

"Sure, I promise. Come here little one!" As he used my old one, a wave of nostalgia hit me.

It still was hard to know we'd been doing so great a year ago, only to have everything pulled out from under us, making it so that we had to start from scratch all over again. All the while, I was painfully aware that neither had he apologized, or said 'I love you' since we had gotten back together. Was I so wrong in thinking he'd been the one to be at fault here? I knew I had told him I hoped he'd wait for me, but not wanting to tie him down with a commitment, but here he was still wanting me, while at the same tame he had been with someone else.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my back against his chest, as he placed sweet kisses in my neck. I might not tell him, but I do love him, more than I ever knew I could love anybody. Reveling in the feel of his warmth surrounding me, I closed my eyes as I let my head fall back against his chest, these kind of gestures shook me to my core. They were so filled with love and affection, it made forget everything that would worry me the rest of the day.

"Oh, Nady, I missed you so fucking much," he sighed heavily. He was constantly telling me he had, yet it never got old, it felt good to know he had longed for me as much as I had for him.

After sharing a heated kiss in the hallway pressed up against the front door, we finally left, though it had made us shamefully late. When Nessie and I were in the living room, the cute baby Aurora scuttled around us with some of her toys, she was approaching a year in actual age, so she appeared to be approaching two. She was walking, talking short adorable sentences, but most importantly, she was a very sweet girl.

"You two seem happy together!" Nessie commented cheerfully.

"Yeah, I suppose." I agreed with her.

"Well, that sounds enthusiastic." Nessie said disappointed.

"No, it's true, I'm happy that let go of our anger and were able to move passed it, but it's not the same as it was before. He hasn't even told me he loved me, not once," I admitted meekly, being on the verge of tears.

"Oh Nady, I had no idea, I thought you two had worked everything out!" She pulled me into a hug, instantly making me feel better.

"I just don't get why we're suddenly incapable of talking to each other. Everything else is so great, most of the time I'm so happy when he's with me. But ever so often, the thought of him with another woman pops into my head, I can't bare the idea of him being able to do that, and not even apologize for it!" That last part had been eating away at me, ever since I learned it'd happened, an apology wouldn't be nearly enough for what he had done, but it would have to be the very least.

"But I think that's normal, in a very essential way, he cheated on you, don't you think that's something worth talking about? You two need to discuss it eventually, if you ever want to be able to trust him again." Nessie was right of course, I just didn't know how to bring it up.

After our heart to heart we played with Aurora, she was too cute to be real. When we left she gave me a big hug, kissing my cheek gently, Nessie was extremely lucky to have such a sweet daughter like Aurora. Nessie gave me an encouraging smile before closing the door behind us. We got into the car and I let everything go through my mind, and I knew no matter what, I wasn't going to give up on Embry. We had been through so much, we were meant for each other, and I would do whatever I could to mend our relationship. Suddenly I felt the car slow down, and when I looked up, I saw him pull into the parking lot of the grocery store.

"I wanna get some things for tonight, I wanted to cook for you, is that ok?" Embry was being incredibly gracious all of a sudden, and a bad liar, if had planned on cooking for me, he would've made sure that he had everything before.

"Sure," I answered flatly. We got out of the car and walked into the store, where Embry grabbed a cart and started loading things in, I noticed that besides food he also got a few bottles of liquor.

"Embry! Is that you?!" The shrill sound of a woman's voice, rang through the store as we stood at the register, paying for our groceries.

"Veronica, how've you been?" Embry replied politely, but there was something seriously wrong here. As I took in the big breasted woman, with fake curly hair, in front of us it hit me, she had been one of his tramps.

"Better, now that you're here!" She batted her eyelashes at him and the site of her trying to plaster herself onto him, sickened me.

"Veronica, I'd like you to meet Nadira," she just looked at me, taken aback by his statement, but she recovered quickly.

"So this is the one who had you so messed up? Well, I hope she was worth it!" Her smile fake as she flashed her teeth at me.

Before watching a second more of this, I got out of there, feeling the bile rise up from my stomach, I started running. As soon as I reached the parking lot, I headed towards the nearest trash can and threw up. Images of her and Embry flashed though my mind, and it was horrible knowing that they weren't a figment of my imagination, but that was how it had happened. It made me empty the remaining contents of my stomach.

I honestly hated that he had done that, that he had been intimate with another woman, I slid down against the wall and sobbed silently. How could he have done that, with her, I was utterly disgusted. All I could think was 'that bitch!' since it was clear she had known about me, all along.

"Nady!" Embry came out of the store the clutching the bags, as he shoved them into the car, which was parked a few feet from me.

"Baby, I'm so sorry!" He kneeled down beside me, lifting me into his arms, needing to feel him close to me, I let him place me onto his lap and slowly rock me back and forth.

"Why Embry? How could you do that to me, wasn't I worth the wait?!" I couldn't help but think I sounded pathetic, desperate and weak, but it was too much, I couldn't pretend it didn't matter anymore.

"Nadira, it wasn't like that at all! Please let me explain," I could tell he was in pain almost as much as I was.

He took me home, looking at me with a panic stricken face every few seconds, as if he was afraid I'd vanish into thin air. When we arrived at my apartment building, I rushed out of the car, and up to my door in a matter of seconds. My heart ached, and it told me to shut him out, be alone, as it had always done in situations where I was in pain. But I knew it wouldn't help improving our bond, I needed to trust that he would tell me the truth, which I desperately needed to move on.

So once I turned the key in the lock, and pushed open the door, I left it slightly opened, though my heart was screaming at me to snap it shut and lock it as soon as I had passed through it. I sat down on the floor in the hallway, the same spot where he had kissed me senseless only but a few hours ago. I heard his heavy footsteps come up the stairs, and I heard him let out a relieved sigh as he saw the door was open. He was utterly familiar with my tendency to shut people out when things got rough, better than anybody, since he'd been the one to endure it one more than one occasion.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

When I heard her say that my heart broke, she and Nessie were talking, and I could hear every fucking thing she said, as could Jake. He looked at me baffled, clearly wondering how the hell it was possible, that I hadn't told the love of my life, my imprint, that I loved her. Now I had to hear her suffer over the fact that I had slept with other women when she was gone. How stupid had I been, I remember thinking the happy feeling wouldn't last, well of course it wouldn't!

Had I actually thought, that she'd just forgive me live that?! I'd been scared to approach the subject, I wanted to tell her how sorry I was, but I was afraid it would open a can of worms if I did. Sometimes I could be so blind, not seeing what was right there in front of me. To open the can, it had to be there in the first place, now she was keeping all that pain bottled up inside of her. Why had I been cowardly waiting for her to bring it up, while it was my responsibility.

"Man, you fucked up royally!" Jake said, disdain dripping from his voice, he was right to judge me, he'd never do anything like that to Nessie.

"I know, I couldn't hate myself more for hurting her that badly," I muttered.

"You shouldn't be telling me that, but her! I still don't understand you, how could you even want someone else apart from her, you're so lucky to have the love of such an amazing woman!" He was really out to get me today, wasn't he supposed to be helping me win her back?

"I didn't, of course I never wanted anyone but her! I was feeling so low, I tried to pretend they were her, but as soon as I realized that only made it worse, I never touched one again!" I let out completely frustrated, didn't he get that I never stopped loving her?!

"Ok, ok, calm down, this doesn't do any of us any good! My advice to you is to start groveling and begging for forgiveness today, show her and more importantly tell her, how sorry you are and how much you love her! Oh cook for her, and get her drunk, the things she'll say will hurt, but she'll tell you the truth." Jake seemed to have used that tactic successfully more than once.

As we were about to leave, fresh ideas in my head to win Nadira's heart all over again, were locked safely inside my brain. Feeling a slight pang in my heart, as I watched little Aurora say goodbye to Nadira, she was so great with children, and I was dying for her to have mine. But as things were going right now, that dream might never become reality, since I had single handedly ruined everything.

To make matters worse, while we were at the grocery store, we ran into Veronica at the register. Nadira quickly pieced it together, and rushed out of the store as fast as her feet would carry her. Ignoring Veronica's further comments, I grabbed everything, since I would definitely need it later, and ran after Nadira. She sat huddled up on the sidewalk, leaning against the wall, evident that she had been throwing up a moment ago. She looked so defeated, she didn't even fight me when pulled her against me, so I decided to take her home, wishing she'd be willing to hear me out.

~*~

After finding her on the floor again, she had a habit of wanting to disappear at moments like these, I was actually surprised she had left the door open at all. I would have gotten in any way, but it would have been a hell of a lot harder without her cooperation. After putting the bags on the kitchen counter, I went back to her, hating to see her broken like this, hating it even more that I had been the one to do it to her. When I tried to touch her, she flinched away from me, it hurt.

"Nady, don't do this, don't back away from me!" It was completely unfair of me to ask even more of her, but I couldn't bare her reacting to me like this.

"Nadira, please believe me when I say I never stopped loving you, my heart is yours, and will be as long as I live!" She looked at me, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry for betraying you like that! It was the biggest mistake I ever made in my entire life!" Tremors coursing through her body as she silently sobbed.

I couldn't take it anymore, I lifted her bridal style, despite her protests, and sat down with her on the lounge chair. Running my fingers through her hair, like I had wanted to do a moment ago, I felt her tense up. I sighed deeply, this was worse than I had imagined it to be.

"Did you touch their hair too?" She suddenly asked, and I saw her point, I had never made a secret of how much I loved her crazy wild hair, now she was worried that I had betrayed that part of her as well.

"No I didn't, I barely touched them at all," I wasn't exaggerating. There hadn't been any foreplay or sweetness about it, definitely no touching of hair.

"Why would I? It would never feel as perfect as yours," with those words I weaved my fingers in her thick mass of curls.

"But why would you sleep with them then? You can't imagine how much it hurt, after longing for you all those months away, and then here as well, to find out you'd been looking elsewhere!" I cringed at her words.

"I don't know Nadira, truly I don't, I was in such a bad place, I felt so hurt. It really went wrong when I started drinking, women would just come on to me, and sometimes if I worked at it hard enough, I could almost pretend it was you. But soon I found out it didn't work, they could never be you, I didn't do it again after that." I looked at her, hoping she'd be able to forgive me eventually.

"But Embry, do you really don't see why I had to go?" Fact was, I didn't, I had gotten over it, but I still didn't understand why she had left me in the first place, so I shook my head.

"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I had to do it nonetheless. How could I possibly live my life a ticking time bomb, I wanted to be a mom so bad, but how could I have children with the knowledge I could hurt them involuntarily at any given moment? There I learned how to control every part of me, and I realized how necessary it was for me to come there, when it was pointed out to me, how dreadful I'd been doing until then. A big reason for me to go through with it was you, since yours are the only children I'd want."

When she finished I felt like I was being ripped apart, on one hand I was ecstatic about the fact that she wanted children with me, on the other I felt horrible for not thinking it through better, before drawing the wrong conclusion. She had made a huge sacrifice, and all I did was act selfish, if I were her, I'd never ever forgive me.

"Oh god, what have I done?!" I slumped back into the chair, hiding my face in my hands, I should have known she'd never had done anything like that for her own benefit, she wasn't like that.

"Embry, I'm not willing to give up on you, give up on us, I love you too much. We're better than this, I can forgive you, but you're gonna have to work on earning my trust again."

Slowly her words sank into me, realizing I wasn't there yet, but I wasn't in the dog house either. Thrilled about the fact that she still loved me, I stood up straight, and twirled around. suddenly I stopped.

"Can I ask you one thing thou, and it's not that I would blame you or anything, but I really need to know."

"You're not making any sense Em, just spit it out!" She said smiling, for a moment I forgot what I was about to ask and just watched her smile, but soon it came back to me.

"Did you, you know, with Nathan?" God, ho pathetic, I couldn't even say it.

"No Embry, I didn't, he just wasn't you!" And with that she kissed me, and I felt the love pour from her, as I had done before she'd left. Right then, I was relieved, because through that kiss, I now knew that we were going to be ok.

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**AN:** It's day before Christmas eve, so I want to whish all of you a lot of fun and happiness over the coming days! Lots of love, Rima


	6. That's my imprint!

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing Twilight. Though I must say, the amount of characters I do own, is rapidly increasing.**

**AN: **That was a while, hope everybody had a good Christmas! A special thanks to my awesome reviewers, and to my beta EmbryForMe4, she saved you some from some horribleness that I was about to bring upon you! Hope you like this one, because the reduction of reviews for last two chapters, told me you didn't like them so much. Which saddens me, since I love to read them, they are the best motivators you could imagine ;)

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That's my imprint!

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

"Nadira! Catch!" Isa's voice rang out through the crowd.

Summer was coming to an end, as everyone was trying to enjoy the last days of sun, the beach was overly crowded, and yet here we were, throwing around a football; something I sucked at royally. As I saw the horrific thing approaching, I shrieked loudly, and threw up my arms in defensive. Of course it came at me too fast, and I reacted way too slow, I felt it collide with my forehead. As I stumbled backwards, Embry was at my side instantly.

"Damn Nadira! Why didn't you use that thing you have to protect yourself?!" Embry whispered irritated, keeping his voice low, worried that someone might overhear us.

"Don't you get it Em, that's the beauty of it! It's no longer bound to my reflexes, it has to be a conscious decision, and I know I would never hurt someone intentionally!" He gaped at me, as I sat on the sand, proudly beaming up at him, while gently rubbing the spot that had been hit.

"Oh Nady! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" Isa came running at me, she was a hell of a lot slower than my wolf-man, but then again, she was only five.

"I'm fine Isa, don't worry about it, it won't even bruise." She bent down a little to carefully place a kiss where she had hit me with the football, she was the sweetest thing!

"I still can't believe you let a five year old knock you down like that!" Embry said mockingly.

"She didn't knock me down, I got distracted and fell! Besides, you think that because she is a little girl, she can't throw that hard? You'd be mistaken!" I huffed at him, as I scrambled to my feet.

Just as I was about to stand up straight, the world got black around me, and I felt my ass painfully connect with the sand below me. Shit, not now! I'm at the beach, where over a hundred people can see me, hopefully it'd be over soon. As I tried to relax, I let the vision come to me.

_Silence enveloped me completely, tension hung in the air, the fresh smell of the woods at dawn reached me as the cold winter air rushed passed me. Still slightly dark,_ _ I could sense others around me, when I turned my head to the left, a long row of wolves, a few of the Cullen's and other vampires I didn't recognize , appeared in my vision. To my right a similar image met my eyes, the only difference being Fathiya, standing between them, fear visible in her eyes. Inhaling deeply, I tried to settle my nerves, which were raging inside of me. Small puffs of warm air appeared when I exhaled, it wasn't until then that I realized how cold it was, it had to be the dead of winter, it felt as if the cold penetrated my body to the bone. Nobody moved, and all eyes were focused on one point, we were waiting for someone, something to arrive. Then the image blurred before me._

"Fuck! What the hell is going on?!" Embry's frantic words slowly registering as my brain became unclouded.

"It's ok Em, I should have warned you this could happen." Opening my eyes, I was trying to reassure him, while at the same time terribly confused about who's funeral I had just witnessed.

"Warned me what could happen?!" He looked at me inquisitively.

"Visions, I have visions every once in a while they just appear, without me trying to see something, that's what happened. Nothing serious, though it does drain my energy." Admitting it, because this one had taken a lot out of me.

"Maybe we should go home," he suggested hesitantly. But I was almost feeling like myself again, and I didn't want to spoil Isa's day at the beach.

"No, no, I just need a moment, do we have something to drink?"Embry handed me a coke from the cooler. Sipping at the cool liquid, I forced myself to smile at him, letting him know I was alright.

We stayed at the beach for a few more hours, but my head was no longer set on having fun, rather on how to hide my growing unease. I needed to talk to Fathiya, hoping she knew more than I did, since I hadn't seen everything. As we got back, we dropped Isa off at her grandmother's, I was worried about her. Letting my eyes wander over her appearance, but truthfully she looked better now, than she had a few months back, guess it helped to have someone to be able to depend on.

Embry and I returned to the apartment, he barely went to his place anymore, and I was finally ready to have him move in officially. Though I hadn't told him yet, I'd had made a copy of my keys, so that he could have his own set. After Seth had moved in with Lily, he hadn't taken a new roommate and he was contemplating giving it up, as soon as I gave the ok of him living with me permanently, but I had other plans for it. I knew just who would kill for their place, and I intended to make sure they got it.

Every hour I had off this past couple of weeks, and he was at work, Seth and I had cleared out his room, and rid the shared quarters from everything that belonged to either him or Embry. Alone I was finishing Embry's room, putting everything into boxes, leaving only the furniture that came with the house, as we had done in the other rooms. The last of Embry's stuff, stood piled up in my small storage unit, below the building. Taylan and Logan had graduated this summer, and were looking for a place where they could live with their girlfriends, all four of them agreed to sharing a house together, if only they had one.

"What are you doing?!" Embry asked as I tried to sneak up behind him, while he sat on the couch watching some game, which was stupid to begin with, who other than a vampire could ever sneak up on a werewolf.

"Of course you had to go and ruin it! Here I am trying to surprise you, but you can't just let me have my moment, can you!" Feigning being hurt, I pouted my lips, knowing he couldn't resist me if I did.

"I'm sorry babe, just go ahead and try again, I promise to act surprised," he offered, doing exactly what I had expected him to do.

"Ok, close your eyes and put out your hand," obediently he complied, so I dropped the keys in his hand.

"Wh-" His eyes grew wide, as he looked at the content of his hand, his jaw dropping he stared at me. While I smiled at him, I crawled into his lap and kissed him, softly touching my lips to his.

"Are- Are you sure?" He stuttered slightly as he asked for conformation.

"I couldn't be more sure about anything, than I am about this," I said solemnly, before kissing him again.

"I gotta go get my stuff!" As it fully sank into him what this meant, he leaped of the couch, taking me with him.

"No, you can't." I said pointedly, urging him back to the couch.

"Why not?" Suspicion evident in his voice.

"The Bakers and the Stones are moving in as we speak, besides your stuff is already here, so what would be the point?" I stated casually, only to shock him again.

"I can't believe you did all this! You're way too good for me!" He took me into his arms, and practically hugged me to death, holding me tight to his chest.

"As long as you remember that, we're good, now let me go before you squeeze me to death!" He instantly loosened his grip, but refused to let me go.

"So, we're finally where we would have been a year ago, does that mean you trust me again?" He moved me, so he could see into my eyes, those beautiful brownish green ones of his peering into mine.

"I guess I am," and while I said it, I realized it was true.

He had nothing but prove to me he was fully committed to me, over the last month and a half, since the incident with the horrifying Veronica. We had talked about it endlessly, he had answered each and every one of my questions, to the point where there was nothing left to talk about. We had poured out our hearts to each other, which resulted with the both of us in tears on more than one occasion. But eventually I had come to peace with what he had done, there was nothing he could do about it now, what is done is done, there's no way to turn back the clock.

"I promise I will never give you a reason not to trust you again!" He vowed to me, getting onto his knees in front of me.

Dear lord he wasn't proposing was he?! Panic rose in my throat, clamping it shut. I wasn't ready for a proposal! Relief washed over me when he didn't, and just hugged me tight to him. But as he did, another feeling formed inside of me, something I wasn't expecting. When I identified it as disappointment, I was confused by the tinge of it that nestled inside my brain. I tried to shrug it off, but it remained, it's presence undeniable.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

I tried to forget it, to pretend I hadn't seen it, but I had. For a moment I truly believed we were ok, but her reaction when I had dropped to my knees, hadn't escaped me. Not the joy I'd hoped to see when anticipating my proposal, but fear formed in her eyes, so I halted my urge to pop the question, and just hugged her instead. If she were able to see me right now, I wouldn't be able to hide the pain I felt the moment she silently refused me, so I hid my face in her hair. Thinking about the ring I'd gotten for her last year, nobody knew about it, but at the day Jake and Nessie got married, I had planned to ask her to be my wife.

That night she was restless, we'd celebrated our moving in officially in the privacy of our bedroom, and had drifted into a deep sleep after. But a few hours later she had woke me up, with her continues thrashing and incoherent mumbling. Her expression reminded me of this afternoon, she had told me it was nothing, but it sure as hell didn't look like nothing. Her face twisted in agony, as the tears started pouring from her still closed eyes, nothing my ass, she was in pain!

"Nady, baby wake up." She shot up, nearly bumping her head to mine, her wet cheeks glistening in the moonlight.

"Why can't I see?!" She started sobbing uncontrollably, burying her face in her hands.

"What is it? What did you see?!" Desperate to know what had her so upset, I grabbed her arms, forcing her hands to leave her face.

"That's just it! I can't see! Something is coming, but I can't see what it is!" She clamped on to me, releasing her frustration on my shoulder.

"What?!" Something was coming? That was way too vague, what could there be?

"Yes, in my vision, we're all there, the pack, the Cullen's and even other vampires I've never seen before were there." That didn't make any sense, why would they be here, it had to big in order for the Cullen's to call them in.

"Tell me more, tell me everything you saw," I said eagerly, hoping to make more sense of it.

"As I said we were all there, in the woods, in the middle of winter, the cold was paralyzing. It had to be early in the morning, barely light, we were waiting for something to arrive, but before it did, it was over and I woke up." That didn't help much at all, at least we knew it wouldn't be happening anytime soon, maybe she'd see more before then.

"Try to relax baby, it'll come to you eventually, why don't you give your sister a call in the morning, maybe you'll be able to work it out together?" I hated seeing her get so worked up, especially if her efforts turned out to be futile.

The next day we went to visit my old place, I could still hardly believe that I had moved in with Nadira officially, while she and Seth had done everything, which reminded me that I still had to thank him. We arrived in the middle of a total chaos, boxes were piled up everywhere, the girls completely wiped out sprawled across the couch, while Taylan and Logan were hauling boxes into their designated areas. It was a funny sight, and I was pleased to see they were so eager to move in, unaware that others could benefit from my moving out as well.

"So Em, since I've done your moving for you, why don't you go and help the boys!" A wicked smile spread across her face, "I'll make it worth your while!" She wouldn't have to tell me twice, instantly I picked up a box which said kitchen and headed in that direction.

"Hey girls! Move over!" Nadira commanded just before plopping down between them, as they moved aside just in time.

"Careful, you nearly sat on my foot, and you know you would've broken it with your ass being so fat!" Fathiya yelled.

"Don't whine, I would have healed it anyway, and I'm not fat!" That she most certainly wasn't, at least she had some meat around her bones, what can I say, I'm clearly an ass man, and hers was fine as hell.

Soon they were laughing and squealing. It was weird seeing the three of them together, biologically Fathiya and Nadira were sisters, and during their time in Syria they've grown extremely close. But technically Romy and Fathiya were sisters, because Romy's parents had adopted her when she was a baby. And over the months they'd been back, Romy and Nadira had become good friends. So they weren't a family, but at the same time they were. Eventually they settled down, and flicked on the TV, perfectly content with having us do all the hard work. Then again we didn't actually had to work hard at all, being werewolves and all, these boxes really didn't count as heavy in our book.

"Faat? Have you had any visions lately?"Nadira asked out of the blue, I stopped what I was doing and listened in from the kitchen.

"I have, I was just talking to Romy about it yesterday, I assume you've had them as well?" Fathiya asked her sister.

"The first one came yesterday, at the beach, then again in my sleep last night." Nadira confirmed.

"Could you see who it was?" Romy joined in their conversation.

"No I couldn't see, it was so frustrating, I could see the wolves and vampires beside me, but then it ended, nothing had happened yet." Last night's frustration returned the moment she realized Fathiya didn't know either.

"At least you saw more than me, I couldn't even make out faces, I should have figured as much, you are just better at this stuff than I am." She sighed in defeat, this was new to me, were Nadira's powers stronger than her sisters, I used to think it was the other way around.

"That's not true, you have to stop telling yourself that, remember how you were always faster than me?" Nadira countered.

"It's not just me Nadira, Zaïra told me once, that she'd never seen a witch as powerful as you. It's because your powers are so great, it took you more time to control them." Fathiya said pointedly, at her statement I nearly dropped the box I'd been holding.

"She said that?" My girlfriend asked completely astounded.

"Yes, she did, not that she needed to, I'd seen it myself on many occasions. I've thought about it a lot actually, I think it's the same reason Isa is drawn to you so strongly, and why Taylan imprinted on me." Huh?! What did Taylan had to do with this?

"Taylan?" Nadira was obviously as confused as I was.

"Yes, he admitted he had a crush on you before he imprinted on me, after his injury it only got worse, later he realizes it was because you had healed him. Since I'm your sister and we definitely share a lot of DNA, I think he imprinted on me, because you already had an imprint." It sounded as if it took her a lot to admit to it, and it had to be hard for her, being convinced she was a second choice.

"No, no, that can't be! Taylan loves you, only you, I see it in the way he looks at you!" Nadira uttered breathlessly.

"He does, I don't doubt that, but you know he loves you too, he cares about you very much."

I knew I had a reason for not liking him, he'd been in love with my imprint for six months! Anger rose within me, and I was no longer able to control myself. No longer caring if they knew I had been listening, I stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I could hear Nadira yelling and coming after me, but I didn't care, I was gonna give Taylan a piece of my mind.

* * *

**AN:** Love Embry so much, he's cute when he's jealous! Please let me know what you think... You'd make me so happy if you did :D


	7. Realization

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing Twilight. Though I must say, the amount of characters I do own, is rapidly increasing.**

**AN:** To all of you still following my story, I apologize for not updating so terribly long. I sincerely hope it's not gonna happen again!

Thanks again for sticking with me, and not giving up ;)

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Realization

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

Ever tried to outrun a werewolf? Let me tell you, that's not an easy thing to do! The only reason I succeeded to catch up with him, was because he hadn't really been running, it was more of an angry stride. When he didn't respond to me yelling his name, I went after him, and at the top of the stairs I managed to actually get in front of him. Totally taken by surprise I hung in the air, my feet dangling beneath me, before I was set on my feet again, he had simply lifted me and put me aside to continue his pursuit of Taylan, when he found me in the way.

Well, I'll be damned! That wasn't supposed to happen!

"How dare you!" Embry yelled at Taylan as he stepped into the room.

"Think about my imprint like that?! While I trusted you to look out for her at school, you spend your time ogling her, finding any excuse to get your hands on her, didn't you?!" Well that was just ridiculous.

"Really Embry, do you think I'm stupid, I'd never put my hands on another wolf's imprint… But don't worry, I've got an active imagination, in which she starred more than once, if you know what I mean." Taylan said coolly.

"You fucking bastard!" Embry roared.

When Embry headed towards him again, fury glowing in his eyes, I got in front of him again, this time latching on to him, as he was only a few feet away from Taylan. Who in his turn, moved as far back as he could, until he was unable to go any further, because he had backed up against the wall. He didn't look scared though, apprehension was the better word for it I suppose.

"Nadira, move!" Embry said through gritted teeth.

"I will not! Do you really think I'm gonna let you attack him?!" If he did, he had seriously lost his mind.

"Don't worry Nady, if he does, it won't be the first time," Taylan said casually.

"Excuse me?!" I raised my eyebrows at Embry in suspicion.

Had he and Taylan fought before? That didn't sound like my Embry at all, but then again, the show he was putting on now, wasn't him either, he was usually the most calm and collected amongst wolves. I could feel Embry trembling under my hands, barely able to keep himself in check. If looks could kill, Taylan would've been a very lifeless wolf by now. Though I didn't hear him argue it, could it be true? Why would they though, it was obvious Embry, like me, had only found out just now, about Taylan's crush on me. So he wouldn't have had a reason to attack him before today… right?

"Oh, didn't you tell her Embry? Hmm, I wonder why…" Taylan was now officially taunting him.

"That's enough Taylan!" I scolded him. When I shot him an angry glare, I saw the smirk on his face, for just a moment I was tempted to let Embry go.

"Come on Embry, I think it's best we leave," I tried to push him towards the door, but he wouldn't budge.

"You're the one that told her, weren't you?!" Embry accused.

"Don't you see Nadira, he's still trying to break us up! Well too bad for you Taylan, she knows everything, you failed! She's mine!" Embry wrapped his arms around me, and demonstratively kissed me full on the lips.

His possessiveness had never been this evident before, and what was even more surprising, I kinda liked seeing this side of him. However irrational it was, of course there was no way Taylan was trying to drive a wedge between us, it was exactly what I needed right now. Through all that happened, sometimes it felt as if his passion for me had faded, as if the fire burning within him had dimmed to a mere smoldering charcoal. But the way his jealousy was on display right now, showed me it hadn't, which felt irrationally exhilarating. Not that I approved of his behavior of course, but still.

Pushing my lustrous feelings away, I focused on the situation at hand, Embry was ready to put a fist shaped indent in Taylan's stomach, while at the same time Taylan was actually encouraging him to do just that, so he'd have an excuse to give him a similar treatment. So my first priority was to prevent anything from happening, in order to do that I started dragging Embry downstairs, heading towards the front door.

When we left I felt like I was leaving things unfinished with both my sister and Taylan, but aside from the need to get my boyfriend out of there, I needed to process this new information. I'd have to talk to Fathiya later, cause what she'd told me earlier had been new to my ears, and something that definitely needed to be discussed. Also, we still had no answers as to what was headed towards us, that would be able to cause our dreams and visions.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

There was a possibility I was wrong about this, but I don't think anyone has ever been as mad at someone, as I am at Taylan right now. He was just asking for it, the edges of my vision burned red, every fiber of my being screaming at me to him up. If it hadn't been for Nadira hanging on to me, I would've phased, and tried to bite his head off. But she was, so I was forced to reign in my anger, for her sake, the woman for whom I'd do anything in the world, I'd stay off him.

Never had I been this jealous, maybe it was because things had never gone back, to how they'd been before the break. That's what I called it, the break, before which things had been phenomenal, free, careless, happy. Though we were doing good, I still felt like I had to be careful, afraid that saying the wrong thing would bring up something unpleasant. We loved each other, but it felt like were restricted in expressing it.

Surely my little stunt would not be helpful at all, she cared about Taylan, I knew that, she'd hate it if I acted this way towards him. But when I took my eyes away from him just a moment, I saw something smoldering in her eyes, it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, but I'd seen it. The reasoning part of her disagreed with me, but the instinctive part, the primal part, was turned on by my reaction, to finding out another man had been coveting my woman.

Which made me wonder, should I not tread as carefully around her, should I just let out whatever I felt like letting out? As weird as it was, she seemed to appreciate me doing so now.

When Fathiya appeared in my line of sight when we left the house, I felt bad, had she heard me? I had forgotten about her for a moment, but when I saw her face it hit me, I'd been yelling at her wolf for lusting after my imprint, that can't feel good. Shooting her an apologetic look, I followed Nadira out the door as we headed home. And it was then that I realized Taylan cared for Nadira, but not like that, he had just acted like this today because he was looking out for her.

How many times had I seen Fathiya in his head during patrols, now wonder I'd never known about his crush on Nady, he never thought about it. After all, he'd been an unimprinted 16 year old wolf, he couldn't connect with anybody due to his secret, but Nadira had been in close proximity to him all the time. All feelings aside, wasn't it only natural he'd develop some sort of feelings for the only girl he was allowed to spend time with, and the one with whom he'd spend almost all his time.

"What did Taylan mean when he said it wouldn't be the first time?" She asked as we arrived home.

"We've fought over you before Nady, when he found out about what I'd done, he got extremely mad at me. Which only added to my resentment towards you for leaving, so on more than one occasion we ended up snapping at each other, while running our claws at the other." A bit worried I glanced in her direction, eyeing her response, but she just nodded.

"You're ok with that?" I asked, when after a while she still hadn't said anything.

"I'm not, but there's nothing I can do about it, so it's really no use to be upset about it. But Embry, if you act like this again, I will hold it against you," her words were calm, but she clearly wasn't.

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

That night the dreams came again, but this night, there was a little more about them then there had been before. As unexpected as it was, Jacob appeared in them, telling us they were coming, right as planned. Though it was still unknown to me who were coming, it was the part where he mentioned a plan, struck me as odd. The feeling stuck with me when I woke, so I decided to act on instinct, and ask him about it, since I had the feeling he knew exactly who I was dreaming about.

"Did you see him too?" After waking up, I immediately called Fathiya, wanting to know what she saw.

"Yeah, that was weird right? He seemed so sure, so confident, like he planned it, you think he knows?" As expected, her mind went to the same place as mine had.

Secretly I wanted to call to know if she and Taylan were alright, but I didn't want to butt in, like only big sisters can. If we had discussed our dreams, I could casually ask about yesterday, without sounding overprotective. If this had caused a fight between them, I'd feel so guilty. But as it turned out I had underestimated them terribly, they had been open and honest with each other from the start, so none of yesterday's incidents had upset any of them.

"You wanna go see Jake with me today? I want to get to the bottom this as soon as possible," I knew she was just as anxious to get answers as I was.

"Sure, I've got some time today," with that it was settled, we'd see if Jake would have some answers for us.

~*~

"You're what?!" With a loud thud my chair fell backwards, as I jumped up from it.

"Can you really blame me?" As he spoke, little Aurora came running into the kitchen, and I saw his eyes fill with love.

Which made me rethink my opinion, would I be any differently if it were my family at stake? Of course he was scared, it were his girls at stake, he'd do anything to protect them. But I was not sure if this was the best way, if it didn't work, it would blow up in our faces. How many would we lose, just when I thought the fight we had with the newborns was bad, he came up with a dangerous plan like this. No doubt it would be infinitely worse than the thing with my father had been, it would put so much pressure on the active wolves, they'd have to train again.

"But Jake, are you sure about this, isn't there another way?" Fathiya asked, she had responded a lot calmer, but I could tell she was worried.

"Anything else would have us sitting on our asses and wait, I can't do that, I need to take action, what if you see them coming too late?" Desperation rang through in his voice and I knew I'd agree to help him, before he'd even asked me.

"Does Ness know?" All of this was reckless enough as it was, lying to her would be completely unacceptable.

"She does, she doesn't like it, but she knows…" He sighed deeply, this was a heavy burden for him to carry, and if I could lighten the load by helping him, I would.

"Ok then, I'm in, when do we start?" He looked up at me surprised.

"You wanna help?" He uttered.

"Of course I'll help, if we're gonna do this, we better do it right, it will be easier with my help you know." Of course he knew, he'd seen us in action before.

"Me too, Nadira and I are stronger together anyway," Fathiya stated forcefully.

"Only if you promise to be careful," Nessie walked in with a worried look on her face.

"Of course we will Ness," I pulled her into a hug, squeezing her as tight as I could.

This was my best friend, she deserved to live a happy life, without danger hanging over her and her family's head. Though Aurora had yet to turn one, I knew they were already thinking about a second child. Of course Jake and Nessie would want their children to grow up in safety, what parents wouldn't.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

When Nadira and Fathiya had gone to visit the Black's, I headed towards my old home again. This negativity between him and me needed to end, it was useless, and without cause, at least it was now that Nadira and I were doing good again. Not wanting to make this into a group conversation, I asked him to take walk with me, he was reluctant, but eventually agreed.

"Look man, I'm sorry," I said after we walked for a couple of minutes.

"Sorry about what exactly?" Taylan bit out.

"Everything, how I acted yesterday, what I did when Nady was away, all of it." There would be no need to go into detail, he already knew everything.

"Just to be clear, I'm not in love with her, but that doesn't mean I can't be worried about her. Right now you are what worries me, she deserves better than a cheater, better than someone who gives up on her so easily. But if you want to tell yourself it's because I have feelings for her, be my guest, I don't care, as long as you treat her right I'm good." He was so calm and collected, I couldn't believe I had made him my scapegoat, he didn't fit the profile at all.

"No man, I know it's not like that, it just took me a while to figure it out. And you don't have to worry about Nadira, not in that way at least. I've learned my lesson, I won't hurt her, I love her more than my own life. She's all I want, and I want nothing more than to make her happy." As I spoke, I hoped it would be enough to earn his trust.

Just when he was about to say something in response, an earsplitting howl rang trough the woods, the both of us immediately recognized it as Jake's assembly call. We needed to get over there as soon as possible, something was happening. We phased and ran through the woods, headed towards Jake's house, not a clue as to what was going on. While running I felt another wolf join the pack mind, as the images entered my brain, I recognized them.

"_Seth, is that you?"_ I asked.

"_Yeah, what's going on?"_ He replied.

"_I was just about to ask you the same thing,"_ did anyone know?

Within moments, most of the active wolves were phased and headed in the same direction, none of them knew what was going on either. My confusion grew, when we found Nadira and Fathiya there as well. Sure they'd gone over there, but I just assumed they'd left already, or be with Nessie. To see that they were part of whatever was going on, was unusual to say the least. How would they be involved in wolf business, to be honest, I didn't like it one bit.

Nathan stood relaxed at Jake's side, Aurora perched on his arm, she truly adored him. He seemed more relaxed than most of us, obviously he wasn't in the dark like the rest of us. It made sense, Nathan was Jake's beta, but it stung nonetheless. As a best friend I used to be in on anything Jake cooked up, but now I was one of the pack, my best friend status didn't apply right now.

Which worried me more, it would be something serious, if he went through these extreme measures to get us together, and tell no one what he was up to. As the 16 of us gathered, Nessie took Rory from Nathan's arm to take her inside, and then I smelled them, the Cullen's. Within seconds after picking up their scent they were in our midst, Edward gave Jake a small nod, a form of greeting to official for family.

Nerves clawed at the inside of my stomach, as I tried to obtain eye contact with Nadira, but she was skillfully looking away. That was the last conformation I needed, I understood right then and there, before anything had been said, the reason we were here, contained something dangerous. Something I wouldn't like Nadira to participate in, but as the situation was, I didn't think I'd get a say in it.

"Ok, I think we should get started right away, cut to the chase as it were," Jake started.

"I've called you together to ask for your help, as your alpha I realize I could order you, but that's something I don't want to do in this situation." Everyone looked at him apprehensively, he was taking volunteers, this wasn't a good sign.

"My plan is to take out the Volturi."

His statement was short, and got no audible response, but I'd bet that everyone's heads were spinning, reeling with the new and shocking news provided to us.

* * *

**AN:** If you would review, it would mean the world to me!


	8. Victory

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing Twilight. Though I must say, the amount of characters I do own, is rapidly increasing.**

**AN:** Here's the next chapter, writing hasn't been my priority the last months, but things are clearing up, which means more regular updates again :)

Go check out the very first spin off, that originated in this universe. I'm proud beyond words, that Vamp-Feenfreak412 is writing it! It's called Something Else Completely, you can find it on my favorites page.

* * *

Victory

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

My worries about Fathiya and Taylan had been completely unfounded, they were doing great, completely happy with each other. Despite recent events, which seemed to have had no impact at all, they were thriving. Enjoying their new pad, along with Logan and Romy. Whenever I visited, I couldn't help but think back to the good times Nessie, Jake, Embry and I had enjoyed there. It was good to see the house in full use again, after being so empty and depressed for so long.

But Fathiya and I had yet to discuss her remark about me being stronger than her, that had been as unexpected as hearing about Taylan's crush. Though it was a difficult subject to approach, for I was afraid she'd misunderstand me, and would think that I was just dying to hear about it. While it was more the fact that she believed it, what worried me, how she would have gotten idea like that in her head was beyond me.

"Are you gonna ask me about it, or what?" Fathiya said cheerfully, as I sat at the kitchen table stirring my almost cold tea, completely lost I thought.

"Well, I was, but I just hadn't found the right time yet," I admitted a little ashamed.

"It's not that big of a deal you know, I'll just tell you what Zaïra told me," her expression was completely relaxed, she was obviously totally comfortable with it.

"Ok," at a lack for something better to say, I just sat there.

"So, apparently it's really uncommon for two sisters to be born in the same generation, from the same parents. Actually, we're the first to be actual sisters, she didn't understand it exactly, but she soon realized you were different from the rest. When I told you, you were stronger than me, I should have said stronger than all of us. According to Zaïra you're the most powerful witch she's ever seen, she's curious how your gifts will develop as you grow into your full potential." Fathiya finished casually, as if it was very normal to tell someone something like this, as if she were telling me my hair was curlier than hers.

"And she never bothered to tell me?!" I was shocked and remained in total disbelief about what she had just told me.

Of course she had been wrong, there was nothing different about me, well compared to my sisters that is. How often had Fathiya been faster than me, when trying to control one of our talents. Zaïra had been mistaken, the fact that we were the only real sisters, was because we were half sisters, right. That had to be it, there was no way her conclusion could be correct, she had been too quick to assume, it was as simple as that. Happy with my reasoning I returned to the here and now, to find Fathiya looking at me amused.

"This is why she didn't tell you, she knew you'd deny it," she smiled and left it at that.

For the first time I felt like the younger sister, while I had always clearly been able to feel the six months I had on her. She went about her thing, leaving me wondering, gazing at the small flecks of herbs, floating to the bottom of my now chilled tea. Could she have been right? But what did that mean? Not able to answer my questions, I decided to stop dwelling on it. The future would tell, and that was all there was to it. Besides, with all the training we were doing to prepare for the military mission ahead of us.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

Jake might as well have dropped a bomb on us, for the instant chaos that erupted after his statement was unimaginable. Take out, what did that mean exactly. And the fact that Nadira was involved didn't exactly appeal to me either, why did she have to stick her nose into something like this? More so, she seemed to be at the head of it, right alongside Nathan, something that didn't fail to catch my attention.

It turned out she was the one to tell Jake to go for it, that she understood and would back him up every step of the way. Of course she had, that sounded like Nadira. She would be first in line to help out in keeping her best friend safe, that she would have to work side by side with Nathan surely wouldn't stop her. The number of night she spent in meetings, discussing strategies, was way too high for my liking.

"Hey sweetie," I heard her step into the dark bedroom, and wanted to let her know I was still awake.

"Hmm, you're still up," she closed the door behind her and headed towards the bed.

As my eyes quickly adjusted to the light, I saw she was wearing nothing but hot pink panties and a matching thin strapped top, leaving part of her belly between the two exposed. The pales skin gleaming in the moonlight, a naughty smile on her face as she approached me slowly. When she was close enough to reach I grabbed her roughly and pulled her on top of me, making her squeal ever so cute.

As she leaned down, her messy curls tumbling down on either side of her face, she placed her lips on mine seductively. Her touch light and teasing, as she took my bottom lip between her teeth, sucking it into her mouth. Instantly I felt myself hardening, as I held on to her hips, slightly bucking up to meet her warmth. Her scent of arousal reached my nostrils, inhaling deeply my hand traveled to her, my fingers lining the top of now damp panties.

Smelling her made me want to be inside her, feel her soft warmness surrounding me. Impatiently I lifted the top over her head, freeing her breasts, her hardened nipples staring me in the face. Growling loudly I pushed myself up so I could give them the attention they deserved, sucking, nibbling as she pushed herself against me.

"Oh Embry, don't make me wait!" She whined, as she pushed herself against me.

That was all the encouragement I needed, I pushed down my boxers and ripped away the pink cloth, entering completely in one move, making her scream loudly. With my hands firmly on her butt cheeks, I guided her movements as they grew more frantic, her breasts bouncing along with her rhythm. I could feel her release approaching, she grabbed the headboard, as I matched my movements to hers, pumping to her from underneath. Her orgasm hit her hard and the sudden clenching of her walls around me, made me explode into her almost instantly.

"I don't mind working late if this is what I come home to," Nadira panted as she let herself fall down on top of me.

"Come home earlier, and see how I'll receive you," I whispered in her ear, before nibbling on her lobe.

Chuckling I flipped us over so I she was under me, getting ready for the second round. I would let her know exactly what she was missing whenever she was away from me, giving her extra incentive to spend her nights with me.

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

Things were great between Embry and me, sure he had some difficulty dealing with the fact that Nathan and I were spending so much time together, but I made sure to show him just how much I needed and wanted him. Which seemed to please him, yes we were doing good. Until Sunday morning, February 21st 2016 that was. We were still in bed, when Isa arrived at our place in tears. Her grandmother wouldn't wake up, she had tried everything, but had gotten no reaction, she died in the hospital the next morning.

The one relief was realizing that she had lived a full life, and she had been spared the misery of a long suffering, while awaiting her death.

~*~

As winter came visiting again, our departure closed in on us, and though I didn't want to admit it, I was scared. So much even that it was making me sick, and it was making Embry restless, he was getting worried. So much that he asked me to make an appointment with Carlisle, something I was fairly reluctant about. He was practically family, I'd be uncomfortable, and since I wasn't a wolf, it wasn't necessary for me to go to him if I needed a doctor.

So instead I went to a regular doctor in Forks, since I was getting worse by the day, and started fearing something could be actually wrong with me. I had made an appointment with a doctor whose name sounded nice, because there was nobody to ask for a recommendation. Sitting in the waiting room, my mind wandered where I didn't want it to go. Maybe I just had a simple infection, something that would be cured with a course of antibiotics, not some horrible disease… right.

Would Fathiya be able to heal me if I ever really got sick, would I be able to myself? Until now I'd never thought about these things, but now I wondered why I hadn't, it was something to consider. Powers or not, the both of us were still human, so it was only logical to assume we could get sick. Nerves rattled my brain as I waited for my name to be called out, no matter what I tried to tell myself, I was worried.

"Nadira Istaqa," an unsure voice sounded though the small space.

An hour later I was outside again, the doctor had been very kind, and she had told me exactly what I needed to hear. I had an answer to my questions, no matter how I felt about it, I had my answer. On top of that, it made perfect sense, so much even, I couldn't even understand that I hadn't thought of it myself. The drive back home seemed to take forever, but the fresh air that met me when I got out of the car in LaPush, did me good.

Though the moment I stepped through the front door, I felt horrible again, the smell of rotten fish viciously penetrated my nostrils. The insides of my stomach turned and I felt myself go pale, I barely reached the bathroom in time, as the contents of my stomach traveled upwards. Jeez, for a wolf his sense of smell was really bad, maybe it was better if he just refrained from cooking all together. Ready to tell him to keep away from my stove I exited the bathroom, to find him standing in the hallway, a tortured look on his face.

"You need to see a doctor Nady, this isn't normal," he said seriously. He held out his arms for me to crawl into, and as soon as I did I felt better, as always when he held me.

"I already did, I went today," I said in a whisper, his muscles tensed up around me the moment I did.

"You did what?" He pulled me back, so he could look at me. "Why did you go without me? No never mind that, what did he say?"

"Uhm, she, uhm…" Word got stuck in my throat.

"Nadira, tell me!" Panic now filling his voice, it wasn't fair of me to do this to him.

"I'm pregnant," the words were inaudible, barely a whisper, but he received them, I was sure of it.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~  
From the moment she told me, the arguing started. On one subject we agreed, we were thrilled to become parents, and would welcome this baby with open arms. On the subject of her joining us in war in January, we didn't. She kept on insisting she'd go, and that I couldn't tell anybody. While I was adamant on her staying behind, not that she would hear of it of course.

In the end she got her way, but only hours after we left, Jake demanded we told him why we were arguing the entire time, and the cat was out of the bag. Not that it helped much, we couldn't slow our pace just for Nadira, otherwise we'd miss our window. That Jake had so coldly made the decision bothered me, would he be so callous if it were Nessie? But on the other hand I understood. Nadira held on strong, which allowed us to get there on time, and without complaints. But nothing happened the way we imagined it would.

It was a bloodbath, there was no other name for it, and halfway through the battle, I was convinced we would lose. Wolves were going down more often than they were, the earsplitting howls filled the air way too often. But it was Nadira who turned the tide, we won, but the cost was so high. Everything happened in front of me, because I refused to stray from Nady's side, it was horrifying.

The leeches, in anticipation of the witches powers, had brought humans, who they couldn't burn, not the way they did with the leeches. Eventually they got a hold of Fathiya, mauling her in front of Nadira. Sending Nadira into a frenzy, she literally flipped out. Her face changed, rage taking over her entire being. What happened next was, indescribable, it looked like an explosion, Nadira being the napalm. An circle of blue emitting from her, in every direction, growing larger, effectively taking out every single vampire in the radius.

Nadira collapsed and the blue disappeared, I was in time to catch her, but she was unconscious. No vamps were left, and the few humans that were still standing, were dealt with in mere seconds. But the number of wounded was high, and since both Nadira and Fathiya were incapacitated, there was no one to heal them. We were stuck in Canada, and it was a luck in itself that the Denali were with us, with their and the Cullen's help we were able to move everybody to their home.

Jake refused to let anyone at home know what was going on, he said too many wolves were still in danger, and he didn't want to spread false hope. Nadira came to a few days later, and according to Carlisle, both mother and child were doing fine. Well, at least physically she was ok, she had bound herself to Fathiya's bedside, trying to heal her. But for reasons unknown, she was unable to do so, so there she was, helpless at her bedside, until she died.

Taylan wasn't even aware of what had happened, he was too badly injured himself. As were Caleb, Mason, Seth, Ryan and Nathan. Six of us badly injured, and one lost, those were numbers that didn't sound good to me. But we tried to remember we were on the side of victory, the Volturi were wiped out, the Cullen's and the Denali had been in discussion on how to fill their spots. Cause we all agreed, the vampire world needed rules, and enforcers of those rules.

Both covens had been in one location for too long already, they agreed to all go, something I was sure Nessie wouldn't like very much. Once there they'd take their place, and start looking for others to join, so eventually not all of them had to stay there.

Taylan didn't heal at all, but we all assumed it was because he had just lost Fathiya. But every day the other wolves made progress, but Seth and Caleb healed way to slowly, which incidentally were the two wolves with imprints. So as soon as the other three were well enough to phase, we decided to head back home, convinced that Caleb and Seth needed their imprints to get better. All the wolves accept for those three would travel back on foot, while I borrowed a huge truck, in which the three injured ones could be comfortable, and Nadira could travel with us.

Now that everything was done, I didn't want her straining herself any longer. Jake came up to me just before we left, telling me he was sorry for being so harsh on Nadira, but that he didn't have any other choice. On top of that, he shared a piece of information with me, I didn't see coming, Nessie was pregnant too. This was good, Nadira would be grieving for the loss of her sister, maybe being pregnant along with Nessie would give her the opportunity to enjoy her pregnancy better.

We traveled a few hours at a time, they needed the rest, it was the reason we arrived days after the others. It was like nothing I've ever seen. Isa was jumping up and down, next to Nessie and her family, flooded with joy, because the both of us came home unharmed. Romy and Logan were there to take home Taylan, who was still more unconscious that awake, and still not aware of the fact that Fathiya was no longer there. Then there were the Grey's, both Lily and Madeline terribly upset, as their imprints got out of the car with help from me and Jake.

There lay a long road ahead of us, our victory had cost us dearly, but we would recover from the losses, as a family. Isa would get a brother or sister, as would Aurora, which was a happy thing, something we couldn't and wouldn't overlook. Today we were home, after doing what we set out to do, we would lay down in our own bed, falling asleep to wake up to a better day.


	9. Waking up

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing Twilight. Though I must say, the amount of characters I do own, is rapidly increasing.**

**AN:** Hello dear readers, I've gotten your reviews, and was so happy to read them. Thank you all for your support and lovely comments!

This chapter is about dealing with the loss of Fathiya, I decided it would fit in best with this story, considering the fact that those that were close to her, are the lead characters in this story. There is something very unusual (that's an understatement) going to happen in this chapter as well, I did my best to explain it and make it clear, but don't hesitate to question me about it. Of course some of you probably won't agree with it, but well, we can't all share the same opinion ;)

On another note, you should check out the very first spin off, that originated from this universe. I'm proud beyond words, that Vamp-Feenfreak412 is writing it! It's called Something Else Completely, you can find it on my favorites page.

* * *

Waking up

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

"Will she be ok?" Isa had been asking the same question repeatedly for the last couple of weeks, ever since we got back home. Nadira had been walking around the house in a zombie like state, she didn't speak or listened to anything we said to her, right now I was grateful that she still ate.

It was only natural for Isa to be worried about her stepmom, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to tell her Nadira would be fine, but truthfully, I really didn't know if she would be. Who could blame her, not only had she lost her sister, but her sisters life had been ended before her eyes. According to Carlisle she was still in shock, and he seemed convinced she'd come out of it before the baby would arrive, something else that concerned me greatly, our baby. She ate, and the sonogram she'd had a couple of days ago showed it was in good health and growing as it should be, but Nadira's condition couldn't be good for him or her.

To make matters worse, Carlisle would be leaving for Italy soon, leaving a very nervous Kyle to follow in his footsteps. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was great that one of the wolves had gone to medical school and was now a doctor, but he still had a lot to learn. Carlisle might be a vampire, but I trusted him with my life, and despite the fact that Kyle had been working with Carlisle for almost three years now, I didn't think he was ready to carry the responsibility yet. Besides, this would be a difficult situation for anyone to take over Carlisle's work, because Taylan was even worse off than Nadira.

Logan and Romy took care of him as best they could, which had been easier when he had still been slipping in and out of consciousness. But when he got a little stronger, he started asking after Fathiya, since she wasn't at his bedside like Romy and Logan were. Eventually they had told him she died in battle, which he refused to believe, claiming he could still feel her. But when reality settled in, he sank into a deep depression. Kyle was lost as how to help him, everyone felt bad for him, but us imprinted wolves shuddered at the idea of losing her.

I could tell Kyle was having a hard time with it, his mind constantly wandering to his imprint Aiylen, Sam and Emily's daughter. He had almost dropped out of medical school when he imprinted on her, when he was visiting home, wanting to stay with her all the time. Eventually Sam convinced him to stay in school, telling him we'd need him to become a good doctor, arguing that Aiylen was still a baby, and wouldn't need him as much as she would later. It had been a rough period for him, every time he left for school he was torn apart, counting the hours until he could see her again. When he graduated he got a job at the hospital in Forks through Carlisle, where he would finish up his residency while staying close to Aiylen, while he shadowed Carlisle outside of office hours.

He was almost done now, and preparing to set up a practice here in LaPush, so that he could be the pack physician without raising any questions. With Carlisle leaving, the entire process was going much faster than he had planned initially. Which was exactly why I was concerned about his ability to handle all the pack craziness, he was being rushed into it, instead of getting the opportunity to gradually slide into it over time.

Even though Nadira and Taylan were still doing really bad, we held a service for Fathiya, a couple of witches from the Syrian desert had come to say their goodbyes as well. Amongst them was Zaïra, a women in her forties who had been described by Nadira as their leader, she had stayed behind when the others returned. She helped us take care of Nadira, and remained positive about her recovery. Yet she stayed, almost as if she were waiting for someone.

"Embry," a shaky sob came from the bedroom where Nadira had been staring at the wall in front of her.

It immediately had me ready to panic at the first sign of trouble, but also relieved, this had been the first time she had uttered even a single word in a matter of weeks. When I got to her, she was sitting up straight, her hands on her slightly growing belly, tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong little one?" I sat down on the bed with her, wiping away her tears, only to see them being replaced by fresh ones.

"I felt him," she whispered, softly stroking her belly.

So many things rushed through me, gratitude for the first step she seemed to have taken towards getting better, joy that my Nadira was returning to me, but the fact that she said him didn't exactly go unnoticed either. Without knowing how to form words within this huge swirl of emotions I was currently experiencing, I pulled her against me, instantly relaxing as her hands crept around my waist, where they grabbed on to my shirt.

Feeling our son flutter inside of her, had brought her out of her daze, and back to reality. She was still suffering, crying all the time. But the most important thing was that she was dealing with it, for the biggest part, I think our growing son in her womb kept her from slipping back into the dormant state we were so happy she had come out of. She was starting to talk to him whenever she thought she was alone, softly whispering sweet words, telling him she loved him and that she'd never leave him again.

He told her about his aunt, which I was glad about, since she refused to talk about Fathiya to anyone else. Slowly she was giving the grief a place, learning to get about her day without breaking down in tears over everything that could be linked to Fathiya in some way. Besides Zaïra, who was still here despite the fact that Nadira was recovering, Nessie was a big help too. Her child would come into this world sooner than ours, but they wouldn't be far apart, being able to go through the motions together, made it easier for Nadira to deal with everything.

A couple of weeks after she'd felt him moving inside of her, we were able to feel it too whenever he kicked. It was a weird feeling, something moving independently from her, but yet inside of her. While she was completely still, the little guy nudged against our hands, that were eagerly pressed against the taut skin of her fast growing belly. Every now and then I caught glimpse of a small smile playing around her lips, before she realized it herself and it vanished again.

Today we would visit Taylan together, I'd been by myself, but until now Nadira claimed she hadn't been ready for it. I didn't know what had brought along this change of heart, but I was happy about it, seeing each other would do them both good, or at least I hoped it would. While we were getting ready to go, Zaïra appeared in the doorway , she seemed worried about something. Living with Nadira had taught me not to underestimate a witches' intuition, and I wondered what bothered her.

We walked over to their place, it wasn't very far, by the time we had gotten there, Isa was practically bouncing on her feet, impatient to get inside. This was unusual behavior for her, normally she acted a lot more mature than the seven years she had under her belt, causing much concern with many schoolteachers and us included. So the fact that she was tugging at the door, while getting out of her coat at the same time took us by surprise.

Taylan was in his room as always, without waiting for us Isa ran up the stairs, bursting through his doors wildly. The sight before us when we stepped into the room as well, shocked us to our very core. Taylan was looking at her intensely, while she stood in front of him, her rush gone, completely at peace while she looked back at him. Taylan suddenly got up, looking at us confused, muttering that it was impossible.

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~  
The first thing I remembered after Fathiya had died was feeling my son inside of me, everything in between that horrible moment and the light flutter in my belly was lost. What made it so hard to feel the gratitude for my son being alive and healthy, was the grief that came along with it. Letting in one emotion, meant I could no longer keep out the other. So gratitude for feeling my son move around within me, was instantly followed by gut wrenching guilt for not saving her.

Bit by bit Embry told me what had happened, and I had trouble understanding how I had been able to call upon such a great power, pouring it out from deep within me. Worse was knowing that my involuntary display of magic, had effectively saved everybody but my sister. Faith was harsh and unfair, why couldn't she have survived? Why hadn't I been able to take them out sooner? Why hadn't I been able to bring her back to me, to Taylan, who was now broken to beyond repair? These questions haunted my brain, unable to come up with answers I posed them to Zaïra and Embry.

According to Embry it was what happened to Fathiya what triggered me, so basically he was telling me if she hadn't died then, we would have suffered even more losses. How I was I supposed to deal with that, knowing my sister had to die in order for me to save the others?! Zaïra added to it, by telling me Fathiya's existence was an anomaly to begin with, never had there been two daughters who shared parentage. According to her, the universe was set right again, when she left this world.

Anger threatened to overtake me, how could they talk about her like that?! It was knowing that my son needed me, that kept me clear. After all, none of them claimed not to care about what happened to her, all they tried to point out to me was that I could've done nothing to prevent it. Which I came to terms with eventually, my heart finally freed from the guilt that had constricted it for all this time. Soon I was able to enjoy my pregnancy with Nessie, who turned out to be pregnant as well.

"Are you sure?" She asked me once, when I told her I just knew we were having a boy.

"It might not have been as clear as the vision I had of Aurora playing with her baby sister, but the feeling is even stronger than that. I'm absolutely positive it's a boy," I replied, one hundred percent sure of myself.

Now that I was doing better, I wanted to see Taylan. The picture painted by the others wasn't a pretty one, he was barely eating, neglecting his own wellbeing entirely. According to them he had lost a lot of weight, hardly slept, causing black circles to from around his eyes. I understood he didn't see any purpose in living without his imprint, but I also knew she wouldn't have wanted him to slowly waste away. So I decided to join Embry on his next visit, hoping to cheer him up.

Because I had witnessed it on multiple occasions, I recognized it instantly when I stepped into Taylan's room, where he and Isa were staring weirdly at each other. He had imprinted on her. The moment I thought it, I pushed it away again; he couldn't imprint, he had already imprinted on my sister, something like that was impossible… right?

Isa didn't understand what was going on, but Taylan was shaken up pretty bad, he couldn't grasp what had just happened. He was stammering gibberish, every now and then words like impossible, can't be happening could be made out. Which wasn't that weird considering the circumstances. Despite the fact that I saw it happen in front of me, I couldn't believe it, with Taylan being the only one to be sure, I looked at him expectantly.

"What happened?" I asked him softly, causing his pale cheeks to flush in embarrassment.

"I-I'm not sure, I don't- Maybe, I think I imp-" He didn't finish, his head snapped back to Isa, who still stood frozen as if her feet were nailed to the floor.

When we got back home, Zaïra was waiting for us.

"You knew," Embry stated, gesturing towards her. She had felt something was about to happen, even though she wasn't sure what, and she asked us to explain the concept of imprinting.

"It is a connection between souls," she sighed deeply, "now I understand."

"Well, could you enlighten us please, cause we're a little lost here," Embry said calmly.

"Fathiya is within Isa, she healed her when she was younger, no?" We nodded in response, without Fathiya and me, Isa would have been bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

"Well then, that is the explanation. His soul is bound to Fathiya's, and now that she is no longer with us, the only part left of her spirit is within Isa," she reasoned.

Then I understood as well, before we learned about our powers in Syria, we hadn't known about it. And never could I have foreseen this side effect of them. By healing someone part of your essence gets transferred into the injured person, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. Then the horror of it struck me, sure an imprint told you who your soulmate was, but Taylan had been, and probably still was very much in love with Fathiya. Now he felt the link to Isa, while still grieving his loss, he had to be so confused.

The next day I went back to him, explaining what had happened with Isa. As expected he was very upset, torn between his grief, and the sudden adding of worry for Isa, which scrambled his brain. He refused to give in to it, pretending he hadn't imprinted for a second time, on the same soul, but this time bound to another person. After that he refused to see Isa at all, she was very upset about it, of course she didn't understand his reluctance to be around her, but she felt it nonetheless.

She asked about him all the time, she felt drawn to him without actually knowing why. She had seen how horrible he looked the last time, she was worried out of her mind about him. And no matter how much we tried to assure her that he was fine, she didn't listen. Fact was, he was doing a lot better, not being near your imprint, had an entirely different effect than having lost your imprint completely. He hated it that he actually felt better, naturally he would feel guilty. "Sorry Fathiya, but you're gone, so I've moved on to a replacement of you," that's how he said it would be.

It was unfair of him to think of Isa like that, but we all understood why he did, and none of us could really blame him for seeing it like that. It made me wonder how long it would take him to change his mind, if he ever would at all. I felt bad for Isa, I myself had experienced the need to be around someone like that, only than I at least had the luxury of knowing why we were apart.

Meanwhile Nessie's due date was closing in on us, Aurora and Isa had become close friends, while their mothers spend infinite amounts of time with each other. I was so happy that this time I could be there for her, not only to witness the birth of my best friends child, but also to help her. Embry had begged me not to, but I couldn't keep myself from coming to her aid, besides, now that I was feeling strong and healthy again, I figured it wouldn't hurt me to take some of her pain.

When I did, I came to an unexpected realization, I barely felt it at all. The power within me had grown stronger, making me able to help Nessie, without having to suffer myself. Zaïra had left after the imprint incident, sure that this had been the event she'd been waiting for, now that it was behind us, she said she had no further purpose here. Nessie and Jake's daughter Selene Alice-Rose was born healthy and screaming loudly, I smiled inwardly, they would have their work cut out with this one.


	10. Finding your place

**Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing Twilight. Though I must say, the amount of characters I do own, is rapidly increasing.**

**AN:** Thanks for all of your support, my life has been so demanding these last few months, i can barely find the time to write at all, so it means a lot to me that you're sticking with me! A major happy event, the birth of a little Call, since there's been so many bad things going at this point in time. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading about Nadira becoming a mom, and Embry experiencing what it means to become a dad.

Again, I'd like to bring another story from this universe to your attention. It's titled _Something Else Completely_, and written by Vamp-Veenfreak412. It's about Kim and Jared's son Julian, and his dirty mouthed imprint from the Bronx, Amalia.

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Finding your place

~*~

POV: Nadira

~*~

Being there for the birth of Selene had left me in a wonderful bliss. The experience of Selene coming into the world, had struck me as magical. This was what awaited me. The unimaginable happiness that I felt radiating from Nessie when she held her daughter in her arms, was only a smudge of what she had actually felt in that moment. I couldn't wait for my boy to meet us, only Nessie, Embry and Isa knew that we were having a son, and I loved the idea of knowing that it was our little secret.

My pregnancy was a good distraction for Isa, who had been waiting for Taylan to come out of his denial ever since he imprinted on her. I feared she might be the only imprint who would actually have to learn to live without her wolf, something I deemed impossible after what Embry and I went through. This imprint was unique amongst imprints. which were a rareness to begin with. Taylan had good reason for not giving into it, to him that would be the same as replacing Fathiya, something that couldn't be done at all. Sadly, with his decision to ignore her, he decided her fate for her as well.

Placing my hands on my swollen belly I looked down, unable to see anything past it. I was getting enormous, and despite the fact that I had promised myself to glide through the final months of my pregnancy, I felt myself wobble instead. All together it wasn't too bad, my back was a little sore at the end of the day, as was my entire body, but at least I was able to move around and do my things. It were the little things that made it hard, like trying to put on your shoes for instance. It just couldn't be done, no matter how I strained, I just couldn't reach my feet properly.

Poor Embry was trying everything he could to make this easier for me, doing things I could no longer do myself. But as much as I appreciated it, and loved him even more for being so considerate, I wanted to feel like myself again. I wanted no longer to have to roll out of bed, I wanted to be able to get out of a chair or a couch myself. Above all, I wanted to hold my son. I longed for the small warm bundle to fill my arms, that most delicious smell babies seemed to emit, to surround me. I wanted to be able to touch that soft skin, look into the eyes of my baby as he gazed up to his mom.

Impatience filled me every single day after Selene joined our pack family, but when I felt a dull pain in my belly weeks before my due date, I panicked. You know that phrase "be careful what you wish for?" There wasn't a better description for what went through my head when I felt it again. Suddenly I feared that my need for my baby, had subconsciously led to me going into labor way too early. I tried to breath calmly and tell myself these weren't the real deal. After all, it was so very normal to experience those Braxton Hicks contractions as a practice for the actual delivery.

Nessie noticed my discomfort, when she returned to the living room, after she had brought an extremely Selene to her bed. With a questioning look she sat down next to me. I shook my head, and tried to smile at her, to assure her that I was ok. Of course she didn't buy it, and instead she placed her hand on my huge belly, as it contracted beneath her.

"Nady, those are too strong to be Braxton Hicks," she said softly.

Her words made it impossible to pretend otherwise, I had gone into the first stages of labor, at a little short of 36 weeks. I felt the hot tears run down my face, as I realized my boy was coming too soon. It wasn't time yet, but it was happening nonetheless. Nessie called Embry, who arrived moments later to take me to the hospital. We had planned on having the baby at home, it wasn't traditional, but I saw how comfortable it had been for the Black's. Nessie hadn't been able to give birth in a hospital, because of her vampire status, and therefore her children were part vampire as well. But as a human, that idea was now wiped from the table.

Isa demanded on being brought along as well, the girl had lost so many family members, that she was afraid to let me out of her sight. Kyle met us in the hospital, and despite this being the first birth, or anything else for that matter, he was surprisingly calm. The Cullens had left for Europe not long ago, which meant that Kyle had now officially replaced , as the pack physician. Despite my sons urge to come out of the safe surroundings of my womb early, he seemed to be in good condition, which was the only thing that was able to calm me down some.

"There are two options, I could give you inhibitor which could stop the contraction, and possibly postpone the delivery. But…" he looked at us reassuringly. "Your baby is in good condition, and apparently wants to come out, so I think we should just let nature do its work," he finished.

"Are you sure he's gonna be ok?" Embry asked.

"As sure as I could be," Kyle smiled at us, and I felt my muscles loosen slightly.

The next contraction was infinitely stronger, and with it my water broke. The warm fluid pouring out of my in waves along with the contractions that suddenly came at a much faster pace. They were so forceful, I felt no longer in control of my own body. With each contraction, my body reacted instinctively, curling up every time it hit me, the world slowly fading to the background as I tried to breathe through the pain. Though I was familiar with the pain because of the pain transferred to me during Leah and Nessie's labor, it was an entirely different story having to experience them at full strength.

Everything around me reached my ears, but I no longer gave a rats ass about whatever they were doing, or weren't doing. It was me and my son, alone in this bubble, as the contractions kept coming faster and faster, with nobody able to help me. Suddenly I felt even sadder, my sister should've been here with me, watching her nephew be born. Without warning I started crying, and it weren't silent calm tears either, but loud wails making it impossible for me to breath properly.

"Nady! What's wrong?! Please baby, tell me what's wrong!" Embry's frantic voice reached my ears, but I was having a very hard time connecting with him.

Incoherent sobbing passed through my lips, leaving Embry in a total panic, until he was finally escorted out of the room. Nessie's warm hand found mine, as she tried to calm me.

"Nadira, please look at me, we need to know what's going on," she said calmly. With soothing tones she kept talking to me, until I finally calmed down enough to look at her.

"There we are," she said cheerfully. "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Embry's outside with Isa, Logan and Romy, if you want them to come back in again, you have to tell us what's going on, don't shut us out, or we won't be able to help you." She continued, and that's when I realized she wasn't actually speaking out loud, nobody but me could hear her.

"Thanks Ness," I managed to get out before another one hit me.

Embry was very relieved to be allowed back into the room again, fear was written all over his face, and I instantly felt guilty for doing that to him. Isa stayed just outside with Romy, a little freaked by what had just happened, which was probably for the best. After that things went better, I was calmer, and when Embry got into the bed with me, supporting my back, I felt better, stronger somehow. When I finally could start pushing, it was as if we were doing it together.

"You're doing great baby, you're almost there," Embry whispered in my ear.

With one final push I felt my baby move down, until he was completely out. A soft cry let us now he was there, and a moment later Kyle laid him on my belly, wrapped in a blue blanket. He was so tiny, a lot smaller than Selene when she was born two months ago. But when he looked up at me, his grayish green eyes locking with mine, I knew he was fine. His small fingers wrapped around my pinkie, clutching it as tightly as he could.

~*~

POV: Embry

~*~

How had Jake done this?! The question rolled through my brain for the umpteenth time. Watching Nady suffer like this was excruciating. At first she was mainly worried about whether or not our son would be ok if he came into the world this many weeks too soon, but when Kyle had managed to reassure her, her contractions seemed to multiply in strength that very second. I could see her slipping away from is, like she'd done so many times since I imprinted on her a little over four years ago.

The big difference between the two of us was that my biggest concern wasn't our son, but her. The idea of something happening to her, made me more scared now than I'd ever been before. Especially now that she had retreated into her own little world, which worried not only me, but Kyle and Nessie were concerned as well. Suddenly she started crying with a sound that gave me chills, it was so intense and enough to make me freak out completely. Which led to me being thrown out of the room.

This was worse, far worse. I could hear her, she needed me, how could they kick me out of her room like that! Romy tried to calm down Isa, who had left the room when I did, clearly upset with what was going on in there. When all the screams disappeared very suddenly, my heart faltered. What happened, why couldn't I hear her anymore?! Just when I was about to start pounding on the door, it opened, Kyle stepping outside.

"Embry, she's fine, but you need to calm down if you want to help her," he stated calmly, grabbing my shoulders firmly to keep me in place.

It took every ounce of concentration for me to focus and steady my breath, because there was nothing more I wanted than to be let in with Nadira again. Logan and Kyle together, would be able to keep me from her if they thought it necessary. I was determined to be there for Nadira when they let me back in, so eventually I found a way to manage my anxiety. Nessie had been able to reach her, and pull her out of solitude. She had trouble finding a good position, but when I got behind her, holding her while she worked, she seemed to be doing better.

I could feel her muscles tighten, the strength with which she pushed against me, incredible for such a little girl. She was so unbelievably strong, never had I been so proud of her as I was when she pushed out our son. Kyle checked him over quickly, before laying him back with Nadira, so she could finally see the face she had been longing for. The time seemed to stop as we sat together, caught up in the moment, nothing could be more perfect.

"HHHhhhhrjwhHe has your eyes," she whispered softly, tears rolling down her cheeks, but other than that, she was completely at peace.

"He's perfect, you've done so well," I whispered back to her, pressing my lips to her temple.

The moment Nadira knew we would have a son, we started thinking of names, eventually settling on the right one together. We figured a second name would come to us after he was born, and if it didn't, he would be perfectly fine with just the one. Now that he was here, tiny because he had been in such a rush, an idea popped into my head.

"Nady, what do they call someone who's really fast in Arabic? Maybe that should be his second name, what do you think?" The name we had chosen wasn't Arabic, so I figured his second name should be.

"Uhm, how about Sufyan? It means he who runs fast, which is close enough, and I like it," she never took her eyes of the little boy in her arm. "What do you think about that huh?" She asked him.

"I think he likes it too, so that's settled then. His name will be Micah Sufyan Call," I said looking at him as well.

Now that all the drama had passed, Isa was over the moon about having a little brother. Romy and Logan had brought her back in when Nadira and Micah both were all cleaned up, to be introduced to the youngest Call. In the meantime Leah and Tom had arrived also, as had Jake, bringing an extremely excited Aurora with him. He had brought us a bag from Alice as well, the moment she heard Nadira had gone into labor, she had rushed to the store, knowing we wouldn't have any clothes that small.

We had arrived in the hospital at eleven in the morning, and not even four hours later Micah had come into the world, small but healthy. Since it was still early, Nadira and him were allowed to go home that same day, which Nadira was very happy about. Micah was dressed in a super cute, super soft and super small outfit, one of the many Alice had provided us with. She had even thought of a clean set of clothes for Nadira, that were equipped to nurse a baby.

"Hi," it came from the door, and when I looked up, Taylan was in the doorway.

"Taylan?" I never expected him to come to the hospital, even though I knew Logan had called him to let him know he had become an uncle.

"I waited for them to leave, I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed with that many people around you," he said as he stepped into the room. It was a lie of course, he didn't want to have to face Isa, but none of us wanted to say it.

"Well congratulations mommy," he smiled at me, the first one I'd seen since Fathiya had left us.

He looked far better than the last time, imprinting on Isa had in fact been good for him. Not that he'd ever admit it. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, so I could place Micah in his arms. Gazing down on him he let out a deep sigh.

"He's perfect Nady, you sure know how to make cute babies," he joked, but we could both feel the cloud hanging over us. He had been refusing to even acknowledge the imprint, let alone talk about it, but it couldn't be avoided forever. So I stayed quiet, waiting for him to bring it up.

"I can't do it Nady, I can't betray Fathiya like that," he finally said.

"She's seven Taylan, all she wants is for you to be her friend, she asks about you all the time," I said softly.

The look on his face led on how much he cared, it hurt him to stay away from her as well. We stayed like that for a while, Micah content in Taylan's arms, while his brain worked at top speed, trying to figure out what he should do. It had been almost four months since he had seen her.

"Maybe I could be her friend, but nothing more, not even when she grows up," he stated firmly.

"It'll be years before you'll have to worry about that Taylan, just take it one day at a time," I replied.

He nodded, and I hoped he would stay until they returned. Every time he moved, I was afraid he'd get up and leave, but asking him to stay wouldn't be smart either. When he laid Micah back in my arms, I was positive he'd leave, but he just sat back down again. So I just sat there, glancing at the clock every few minutes, willing them to return. And then they did, Isa and Embry stepped back into the room, she was telling him something, until she saw Taylan sitting in the room.

"The others have gone to our house, making sure it's ready when we get there," Embry said awkwardly.

"Right, that's sweet of them," I said, not taking my eyes of Isa and Taylan.

Suddenly Isa seemed to snap out of it, walking towards Taylan, stopping in front of him. He was struggling with himself, she saw it too. He looked at me, desperate for help, like an animal trapped, looking for a way out. I shot him a pleading look, telling him to pull himself together. He took a deep breath, turning back to Isa. Opening his mouth to say something, I let out a huge breath in relief, finally he was starting to listen t reason.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, and with that he was gone again.

When we got home everybody was waiting for us, the house was cleaned, something with a delicious smell came from the oven. It felt good to be home again, Isa had shifted her focus onto Micah, vowing to be the best big sister there ever was. July 3rd 2017, the pot was stirred, new places were found, new paths were taken, a son was born.

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**AN:** You're positive comments keep me going, they are my motivation as I punch in the keys in the early hours of morning, trying to write another chapter :D


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